Gardaí investigating the murder of a 35-year-old man in Dublin are examining his links to the drugs world as a possible motive for the killing.
However, while gardaí said the dead man had been known to them as a suspected drug dealer he was not a significant player in the city's drugs trade.
The victim, Mr James Kavanagh, was stabbed in the neck on the Irishtown Road outside the Seapoint Public House, Irishtown, in the south inner city, at around 11.30 p.m. on Monday night.
He was taken by car to the accident and emergency department at St Vincent's Hospital by another man but was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
The man who brought Mr Kavanagh to the hospital left a short time later without giving his name, only saying he was a friend of Mr Kavanagh's.
He has since been tracked down by gardaí and was interviewed by them yesterday.
His car was undergoing a technical examination. The area outside the pub had also been sealed off as detectives studied the scene of the crime.
Mr Kavanagh had one child, a 15-year-old girl.
He lived at an address on Bridge Street in Irishtown and was separated from his partner.
It is believed he had worked as a chauffeur in recent years.
There were conflicting accounts as to whether he had been in his car or leaning against it when he was stabbed.
Gardaí conducted house-to- house inquiries in the area and have interviewed a number of witnesses who were in the area at the time of the fatal attack.
Many of those interviewed arrived at the scene after Mr Kavanagh had been stabbed.
Gardaí are satisfied that the attack took place outside the pub. They are keeping an open mind on the motive for the murder and said they had yet to establish what exactly happened.
They have appealed to anybody who was in the vicinity of the Seapoint bar on Monday night to contact them.
The Garda investigation is being co-ordinated from Donnybrook Garda station by Supt Gerry Phillips.
