Gardaí are expected to open a full murder investigation once they receive the results of a postmortem on a 59 year old woman who died following a stabbing incident in Cork.
The woman and her husband (62) were attacked by a man armed with a knife in their home in Shrewsbury Downs, off the Ballinlough Road in Cork city, at about 9.15pm on Monday night.
The couple have been named locally as Stella and Brian Gallagher.
It is believed that the couple tried to phone the emergency services as the man – who was known to them – came at them with the knife inside their home, which is in a quiet estate of detached houses.
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Mr Gallagher suffered multiple stab wounds when he was attacked in the driveway outside their house. Ms Gallagher managed to make it to a nearby green area where she was attacked.
A number of neighbours heard the disturbance and raised the alarm. The Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU), who were first on the scene, disarmed the man who had attacked the couple.
Trained ASU officers began performing CPR on the two victims before paramedics took them to Cork University Hospital.
Ms Gallagher died before midnight while Mr Gallagher remained in a critical condition at the hospital on Tuesday morning.
Members of the ASU disarmed a 25-year-old man at the scene. He was arrested and brought to the Bridewell Garda station in Cork for questioning.
The man is detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows gardaí to detain suspects for up to 24 hours before they must be either charged with an offence or released.
It is understood doctors were called last night to the Bridewell to assess whether the man was mentally fit to be interviewed by gardaí due to his distressed state.
Gardaí are still trying to piece together the exact sequence of events, but they believe that the arrested man tried to get into a neighbour’s house after attacking the Gallaghers with the knife.
Gardaí cordoned off the scene, and local scenes of crime examiners began an examination of three designated crime scenes – the couple’s house, the neighbour’s house and the green area.
It is understood that the ASU officers recovered a knife from the suspect, which is believed was used in the attack, and that has been given to Garda technical experts for examination.
Meanwhile, gardaí have requested the services of the State Pathologist’s Office, and it is expected a postmortem will take place this afternoon which will see gardaí open a full murder inquiry.
Gardaí began door-to-door inquiries in the Shrewsbury Downs estate last night, and they have begun taking witness statements on Tuesday morning from a number of local people.
They have also canvassed to see if any homeowners have CCTV cameras which may have captured footage of the incident.
A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has been appointed to lead the investigation, and an incident room has been established at Anglesea Street Garda station to co-ordinate the investigation.
In interview with Newstalk, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the death of the couple as “very, very sad news for the neighbourhood.”
“And I live in that neighbourhood. This is totally unexpected and I can only think of the family and friends of the family who have been impacted by this awful incident,” he said.
Mr Gallagher and Ms Gallagher have four adult children - three sons and a daughter.Both were retired chemical engineers, he having worked for the PM Group and she for Eli Lilly.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the incident to come forward, and are keen to talk to anyone who was in the Shrewsbury Downs area of Ballinlough between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
They are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have camera footage (including home security and dashcam footage) and are asked to provide this footage to investigating Gardaí.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Anglesea Street Garda station on 021 452 2000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
A Family Liaison Officer (FLO) has also been assigned to support the family of the deceased.
