Gardaí in Ashbourne, Co Meath, have launched a full murder investigation after a 23-year-old man was stabbed to death in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Gardaí believe that two groups of up to 10 youths may have been involved in a row which led to the death. Barry Maguire, who was from the Milltown estate where the incident occurred, was found collapsed in the roadway of the estate by gardaí, who were responding to a phone call about a dispute there at about 4.15am.
Mr Maguire was taken to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, where he died a short time later. A postmortem report by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy revealed that he died of a single stab wound.
A second man, who is an acquaintance of the deceased, was also taken to Connolly Hospital with injuries he received during the same incident. These injuries are not thought to be life threatening.
No arrests have been made but gardaí were continuing with door-to-door inquiries in the Ashbourne area last night and have appealed for witnesses to contact them.
Supt Charles Devine, who is leading the investigation, said at a press briefing in Ashbourne last night that officers are carrying out a "widespread investigation" and had a "lot of people to talk to".
The investigation is focused on the altercation in the street rather than on whether a house party had taken place nearby. "We are investigating the possibility that two groups of people met and had an altercation on the street," Supt Devine said. "They were young people in both groups that encountered each other on the street."
Asked if officers had recovered the murder weapon, Supt Devine would confirm only that "material relevant to the investigation" had been collected.