Probe into publican death to be ‘long haul’

THE Garda investigation into the death of publican Matt Farrell in Co Offaly is likely to be a “long haul”, Garda sources have indicated.

Gardaí in Tullamore and Daingean said they were “on top of the case”, but have no firm suspects yet. The 64-year-old landlord was found dead with his hands tied behind his back lying face down on the sitting room floor of his house in the village of Daingean, at 7.30am on Wednesday.

The grim discovery was made by his son, Matthew, who lived with his father in their home, which is attached to the family pub, the Gaelic Bar. Mr Farrell had been last seen at 2.30am by bar staff. Initial indications suggested Mr Farrell, who was in bad health and overweight, may have died from a heart attack in what gardaí said was a “burglary gone wrong”. But postmortem results showed the popular publican died from a head wound. “It was blunt force trauma. It could have been a kick, punch, he could have been stood on, we don’t know.”

A major Garda investigation, working out of Tullamore, has been set up, supported by specialist units, including a team from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. It is not thought the raiders got away with any significant amount of money. The victim had earlier lodged takings in the bank.

Local gardaí are trying to find out if anyone saw anything suspicious in the village between 2.30am and 7.30am. People with information can contact Tullamore Garda Station on 057 9327600.