A man in his 30s remains in custody following a stabbing incident in which a woman died and her husband was seriously injured.
The incident occurred on Saturday night at approximately 9.30pm at the couple’s home in Kilnavert, 7km outside Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.
On Sunday the laneway to the house was sealed off by gardaí who have begun a murder investigation. They were looking in fields and along the roadsides for the knife used in the attack.
The woman was named locally as Annie Heyneman (née McLoughlin) and her husband is Henk Heyneman, who is Dutch.
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Ms Heyneman was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was taken to Cavan General Hospital for a postmortem.
Mr Heyneman is in the same hospital in a serious but stable condition.
They met in the Netherlands and moved to the family home with their five children decades ago.
The suspect, who was arrested at a chip shop in Ballyconnell at about 9.40pm on Saturday is well known to the couple.
He walked into the Big Bite chip shop in the town and asked the owner, Arshad Qayyaum, to call the gardaí and an ambulance. He was bleeding heavily from his left hand and blood was still on the floor of the chipper on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Qayyaum, a Pakistani national who has owned the shop since 2018, said the suspect was a regular customer.
Mr Qayyaum put his mobile phone on speaker so the suspect could speak to gardaí. The suspect told gardaí he had been involved in an argument.
“He said, ‘Can you send two ambulances and I need a garda as well’,” Mr Qayyaum recalled.
“He was very upset and nervous. At that time, I didn’t know what happened. A short time afterwards gardaí came along and put cuffs on him. He was crying inside the van and not saying anything. He didn’t put up any resistance. I was very shocked about what happened.”
Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith, who is a native of the parish of Templeport where the stabbing happened, described Ms Heyneman as somebody “who was always doing good for people. They were a popular, highly-regarded family. The whole community is shocked and stunned. The prayers of the wider community are with the family.”
Local man Francis Donohoe, who knew Ms Heyneman all his life, described her as a “pure lady and one of the best neighbours you could have. If you were in trouble, she’d be standing beside you.
“What took place was terrible. It will take a few days for the truth to come out.”
He said she and her husband, who worked in the Slieve Russell Hotel and has since retired, were very popular locally.
Ballyconnell native Michael Smith said locals were shocked at what happened.
He said he knew Ms Heyneman “reasonably well” and the McLoughlin family were well known locally. The deceased woman’s mother had run a shop locally.
“Everybody is devastated. Ballyconnell is a quiet town. The like of that doesn’t happen around here.”
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to come forward.
Anyone who travelled in the area of Kilnavert, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, on Saturday between 8.30pm and 9.30pm is asked to provide any available camera footage.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cavan Garda station on (049) 436 8800, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
The scene has been preserved for technical examination by gardaí.
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