Father of six stabbed to death on way home

GARDAÍ have released three people arrested in connection with the attack on a 43-year-old unemployed man who was stabbed to death in Tralee.

The three were released last night without charge and a file is being sent to the DPP.

A full-scale murder investigation got underway in Tralee after the body of Michael Faulkner, a married man with six children, was found on the roadway less than 100 yards from his home, in Mitchel’s Crescent, Tralee, at around 11.40pm on Monday.

He also had an address at Dunmore Gardens, Knocknaheeny, Cork.

Three men in their twenties were subsequently arrested, questioned and released last night.

Mr Faulkner was the victim of an unprovoked attack by a number of men who are believed to have jumped from a van, wielding knives and possibly other weapons, as he made his way home from the pub.

He was bleeding profusely and was removed by ambulance to Kerry General Hospital, a half mile away, where he was pronounced dead at 12.24am.

Inspector Martin McCarthy said steady progress was being made in the investigation and they were keeping an open mind as to the motive for the attack.

“It was quite a violent and outrageous attack and at least one weapon was used. Mr Faulkner received several stab wounds. The investigation is still at an early stage,” he added.

A number of lines of inquiry are being followed; one being that the attack may be part of ongoing feud and could be linked to a number of violent incidents between settled Travellers in Killarney and Tralee in recent times.

Two of the men being questioned were arrested at around 5am, in Tralee, and the third in Killarney. A van was also seized for forensic examination.

Mr Faulkner’s widow, Nora (nee O’Brien), and family were yesterday too upset to talk, while neighbours also declined to be interviewed. All day, groups of children and young men kept coming and going to the scene, which was preserved by gardaí.

The Faulkners have many close relations in the area, some of whom were weeping at the scene yesterday, directly across from St Anthony’s Community Resource Centre.

A bunch of red roses were placed nearby and a sheet of black plastic covered the bloodstained section of roadway where Mr Faulkner was found, close to the grotto on the main road leading into Tralee from the Killarney side.

The Mitchel’s Crescent council housing area is one of the most deprived in Tralee and a world removed from the glitz of the annual Rose of Tralee festival.

A post-mortem examination was conducted at Kerry General Hospital by assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster.

Mr Faulkner is also survived by his father, Michael, and mother, Mary.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone who may have passed the scene of the attack, between 11.15pm and midnight on Monday night, to come forward.