A Dublin man accused of beating his partner to death in Spain on Sunday will remain in custody on the Costa Blanca in the south of the country for up to a year while the authorities there prepare their case against him.
Paul Hickey (28) of Buttercup Park, Darndale, appeared before a Spanish court yesterday. He was remanded in custody in connection with the violent death on Sunday morning of his partner Celine Conroy (26), at the resort of San Fulgencio in southeastern Spain.
Ms Conroy, who had been living in Buckingham Street in Dublin's north inner city, was found dead on the floor of the villa that she and Hickey had been renting for two months with their three children.
The children, aged eight, five and one, were in the villa at the Marina Oasis estate when their mother was apparently beaten to death. The estate is in an area of hundreds of small chalets popular with Irish, British and German holidaymakers.
A neighbour of the couple, believed to be a relative of Ms Conroy's phoned police on Sunday morning saying she believed the 26-year-old had been killed or badly injured at the villa.
Police sources in Spain told The Irish Times that the same woman had been caring for the three children in Spain since Sunday's events. When police arrived at the scene just before noon on Sunday they found Ms Conroy's body on the floor of the villa. She had died several hours earlier.
Mr Hickey was in a state of shock and had to be sedated by the police before his arrest.
He was taken to a local court house in Orihuela in a police van shortly after midday and appeared before an examining magistrate who ordered his detention to await trial.
The date for the trial has not been set. However, under the Spanish legal system, delays of up to one year are not uncommon. The Irishman is unlikely to get bail before his trial.
Relatives of Ms Conroy travelled to Spain yesterday and were expected to formally identify her remains before returning with them to Ireland for burial. The dead woman's three children were also expected to return to the Republic.
Mr Hickey is known to gardaí.