Woman held in Roscrea murder inquiry

A WOMAN was arrested yesterday in connection with the murder of a man in Co Tipperary.

Gardaí were in contact with the Director of Public Prosecution overnight to determine whether charges should be brought.

The victim, a foreign national, suffered a number of injuries, including stab wounds, in the attack.

Gardaí said the man was aged 36 and from Eastern Europe, but could not confirm reports he was a Czech national.

Superintendent Jim Mulligan of Templemore Garda Station said the man’s nationality “still had to be clarified” and that they would not be releasing further details, including his name, until they had confirmed their information and contacted all of his family.

He said gardaí were in contact with both the Czech and Slovak embassies as part of their inquiries.

The deceased was living with his wife, who is thought to be from the Slovak Republic, in their rented house in Roscrea for the last number of years.

They both worked in the same factory, Ashbourne Meats, in the town. They had two children, a son aged 14 and a daughter aged nine, who are attending local schools.

Gardaí from Roscrea Garda Station were alerted to their house in New Line, in the southern part of the town, at around 11pm on Sunday. They got there at the same time as the ambulance and a local doctor, who pronounced the man, who was found in the kitchen, dead at the scene.

It is understood a large number of family members, including children, were in the house at the time.

The house was immediately sealed off by gardaí, pending the arrival of garda technical experts.

Supt Mulligan said they were appealing for witnesses to the attack, or to suspicious activity in or around the house, to come forward. Yesterday afternoon, detectives arrested a woman in her early 30s in connection with the death. She was detained at Thurles Garda Station under Section 4 Criminal Justice Act, which allows 24 hours’ detention.