A postmortem is due to be carried out today after the stabbing to death of a man at a house at Ormond Square in central Dublin yesterday.
Gardaí were called to the scene off the quays near the Four Courts in Dublin 7 shortly after 2.30pm. The man, named locally as John Maguire (51), is understood to have received several stab wounds.
A neighbour noticed the solid wooden front door on the quiet square was slightly open and apparently tried to push the door further to check all was well, but was unable to fully open it.
Inside, Mr Maguire lay against it, wounded in the neck and chest. Emergency service personnel attended him but he died shortly afterwards at the scene.
Neighbours expressed their shock and sorrow. “He was a lovely man, a quiet man,” said one. “He kept to himself but got involved [with the community] a few years back over the square.” That was during a Dublin City Council-led project to renovate and improve Ormond Square, the centre of which is now raised and grassed and has a playground for local children.
Yesterday, gardaí erected a screening tarpaulin tent as they searched for evidence that might identify his killer. “It’s awful,” said a distraught neighbour. “That’s his car over there. He was washing it only this morning.”
There was no obvious sign of a break-in, and gardaí appealed for any information that might explain events. They said they had an “open mind” as to what happened before Mr Maguire’s death but that robbery was not the motive.
Mr Maguire had lived at the house with another adult, local people said, for more than a decade.
There were no obvious signs of a forced entry on the exterior of the building, but Garda sourcs said that there were signs of a violent struggle inside.
State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy carried out a preliminary examination at the scene.
The body was removed to the City Morgue where the postmortem was to be carried out this morning.
Gardaí have appointed a family liaison officer to the family.
They are appealing for information in relation to this incident to contact he Bridewell Garda station on 01-6668200. They are particularly anxious to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in the general area of Ormond Square from 7.30am yesterday morning.
