GARDAÍ ARE preparing to prevent any further violence between feuding factions in the midlands after a man was stabbed to death and armed gardaí had to be drafted in to prevent the opposing factions from fighting in a local hospital.
The man killed yesterday has been named locally as Derek McDonagh (28), a married father of one. Mr McDonagh, whose wife is heavily pregnant with the couple’s second child, was fatally stabbed at the Arden View estate in Tullamore town, Co Offaly, where he lived.
A member of the Travelling community, his killing is being linked by gardaí to tensions between rival Traveller factions in Tullamore.
The Irish Timesunderstands Mr McDonagh was one of five people who had a violent dispute with the occupants of a pick-up truck at Arden View at about 11am yesterday. Mr McDonagh was fatally stabbed in the row, during which pickaxes and shovels were used.
Gardaí believe three men, two from a halting site close to Tullamore train station and one from Galway, had gone to check on horses that were grazing on land close to Arden View.
The pick-up vehicle the three were travelling in went through Arden View after the occupants had tended to the horses.
A violent disturbance, witnessed by a large number of local residents, ensued as an armed group from Arden View came into conflict with those in the vehicle. It appears the row concerned the fact the three men in the vehicle were grazing their horses in the Arden View area.
Supt John Moloney of Tullamore Garda station said there had been a few minor incidents between the parties in the lead up to the fatal attack. He said the McDonagh family had caused no problems for gardaí in the area. “The McDonagh family never caused us bother over the years here. They are here for years,” he said.
The man believed to have fatally stabbed Mr McDonagh was wounded during the incident and was taken for treatment to the same hospital as his victim was.
This led to two rival factions, one aligned to Mr McDonagh and one to his alleged killer, gathering at the hospital, some armed with implements.
The Garda’s armed regional support unit was drafted into the hospital to ensure the rival factions were kept apart.
The scene of the killing at Arden View was sealed off yesterday and underwent an examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
A number of shops and other businesses in the area closed for several hours.
The Irish Timesunderstands the family of the murder suspect yesterday left Tullamore for Tuam, Co Galway, in an effort to defuse tensions.
Gardaí investigating the murder have arrested three men. They are being detained at Tullamore Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
A number of weapons including pickaxes, shovels and a knife which is believed to be the murder weapon have been recovered.