Gardaí were last night continuing to question a 66-year-old man in Galway following a fatal stabbing in the east of the city in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The victim has been named locally as Christy McGrath, a 39-year-old from Galway city. It is believed he lived for a time at the house on Cardinal Cushing Road in Mervue where the incident took place shortly after 4am.
Gardaí said the victim had suffered apparent stab wounds and he received medical treatment at the scene before being taken to University Hospital Galway where he was later pronounced dead. A postmortem is due to take place.
Gardaí sealed off the two-storey terraced house in Mervue and arrested the 66-year-old man at the scene. It is understood that the victim had known the occupants of the house for many years.
Questioned
The 66-year-old was arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 and taken to Mill Street Garda station where he was continuing to be questioned last night.
Gardaí are considering the circumstances that led to the stabbing. One theory being examined is that the victim may have been trying to gain entry to the house when an incident occurred.
Neighbours on the quiet street were shocked to awaken Sunday morning to find the house sealed off as a Garda forensic team carried out an inspection.
Local councillor John Walsh said the incident had shocked the local community. "It's a very quiet area with a lot of elderly people living around there and everyone is so shocked," he said. "They were very quiet, a family that would have kept themselves to themselves and it's a shock to all of the residents and neighbours. You would never expect something like this on your own doorstep, you only ever hear it on the news."
Former mayor of Galway, Cllr Padraig Conneely, said the fatal assault had caused widespread shock as such incidents were rare in the city.
“It’s a massive shock for something like this to happen in Galway city. We are very lucky here in Galway city that we don’t have many deaths like that. It has come as a shock to a lot of people, and particularly in Mervue, which is such an old, settled part of the town. When it happens so close to home it can be hard to take, that unfortunately it can happen in any estate in the city.”