Tributes have been paid to Irish Rail worker Ian Walsh (49) who was found dead after being stabbed in his home in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, over the weekend.
Mr Walsh worked as a signal man at Kent Station in Cork, having previously worked in catering with Irish Rail on its Waterford service and as an instructor at the Irish Rail Training School at Inchicore.
On Tuesday the company paid tribute to Mr Walsh, who was well known among staff and train enthusiasts for his work in helping to record Ireland’s rail heritage, particularly in the south and southeast.
“All of us in Iarnród Éireann are shocked and saddened at Ian’s passing. Ian was a well-known and popular colleague across the company, both in his working life in roles from catering to signalling, and for his passion for railway and transport tourism and heritage,” it said.
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“Our thoughts are with his family, and his friends in the railway and beyond, at this difficult time.”
Rail heritage group Táilte Tours also paid tribute to Mr Walsh, saying he had been a huge supporter of the group and of Ireland’s rich railway heritage for many years.
“Ian ran five rail tours of his own over the course of the mid to late 2000s and was very much a pioneer in ‘outside the box’ tours in Ireland, starting them from locations such as Waterford and Limerick, in an era when tours were generally based in Dublin or Belfast,” it said.
“He was more than happy to pass his experience and expertise on when we started operations a few years ago; for those of you who enjoyed the ‘surprise’ rare track moves on our Cork-based railtours, you can thank Ian, who went far beyond the extra mile to ensure our operations went off without a hitch.
“He had a wonderful knowledge of the Iarnród Éireann system and its people, and had also developed a passion for Bus Éireann operations, diligently recording the last runs on several rural routes in the southeast as they disappeared, quickly becoming a friend to bus drivers in the Cork and Waterford areas.”
Meanwhile, the Garda investigation into Mr Walsh’s death is ongoing with Garda technical experts continuing to examine his two-storey house in Ravenswood where gardaí found him unresponsive in a downstairs room at about 3.30am on Monday.
Gardaí say their investigation will be informed by the results of a postmortem that is due to be carried out by State pathologist Dr Yvonne McCartney at University Hospital Waterford. An incident room has been set up at Clonmel Garda station.
Gardaí believe Mr Walsh was fatally assaulted sometime over the bank holiday weekend and have appealed to anyone who was in the Cregg Road area of Carrick-on-Suir between 8pm on Friday, August 1st, and 3.30am on Monday, August 4th, to contact them.
Additionally, anyone who may have camera footage, including from dashcams, and was travelling in the area at the time has been urged to make it available at Clonmel Garda station on (052) 617 7640, via the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or at any other station.
