GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING a fatal stabbing in north Co Dublin on Thursday were yesterday questioning a man in his 20s in connection with the killing.
The dead man, James Joyce (20) was stabbed on St Cronan’s Avenue off Rathbeale Road in Swords shortly after 9pm.
He was taken to Beaumont Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Gardaí investigating the incident arrested a man in his early 20s yesterday morning. He was being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Swords Garda station. The man can be held for up to 24 hours.
The victim was among a group of youths drinking on a housing estate green when trouble flared up on Thursday evening.
It is believed two other young men had fallen out over a girl who was expecting a child with one of them but had started a relationship with the other. One of the men became agitated and went to a friend’s house to get a knife before returning to the scene.
The deceased received his wounds at about 9.15pm after stepping in to try and calm the disagreement. It is understood he was stabbed several times in the upper right-hand side of his chest.
“He wasn’t involved in the row – he was trying to stop it,” said a source close to the investigation.
The unemployed man, who lived nearby in St Cronan’s Close with his mother and father, was taken to Beaumont Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later. His pregnant girlfriend, in her 20s, was with him at the time of the attack.
Garda Supt Mark Curran said gardaí were not looking for anyone else at this time. The scene was sealed off for forensic examination and at least one knife was among a number of items recovered.
Supt Curran expressed his sympathies to the deceased’s family and friends. “I’d like to reassure the community that the investigation into this will cover all aspects that led up to the incident itself,” he said.
Detectives have already interviewed a number of people and are appealing for others who were among the group to come forward.
A postmortem examination was due to be carried out on the body of the dead man yesterday.