Two arrested on suspicion of murder

GARDAÍ investigating the murder of Dublin man Stephen Hanaphy, 20, in Ardee last Friday were last night quizzing two men on suspicion of murder.

The men, aged 55 and 21, were arrested at Dundalk garda station at 3.30pm yesterday and can be held for up to a week.

The 20-year-old, who was from Cromcastle Court, Coolock, and also known by the surname Lyndon, collapsed and died after being shot outside a house in the Sliabh Breagh estate in Ardee.

Garda believe he was one of a four-man gang from Dublin who went there to take part in an attack on two men who lived in the house.

However the Dublin gang was met with gunfire and the men in the house left it before the body of the dead man was found some 300m away.

Yesterday, gardaí said they believed that what some people thought were fireworks exploding at the time of the incident on Friday night may have been the sound of a gun being fired.

They have renewed their appeal for information about the fatal shooting and asked for a taxi driver who took one of the accomplices of the deceased back to Dublin after the shooting to contact them.

Gardaí believe that two of the gang broke into the house through a rear window and opened the front door for the other two.

However, as the four men were in the hall preparing to go upstairs and apparently attack or kidnap the occupants, they were met with gunfire.

The four fled the scene and abandoned a Renault Laguna car they had travelled in to Ardee, outside the house.

The shooting was at 11pm on Friday yet the body of Mr Hanaphy was not found until some five hours later.

Gardaí said that the place where his body was found, underneath a tree a few hundred metres from the house, was “very dark that night,” and “they just left him there, they did not care about him and were afraid for their own welfare”.

The incident room in Ardee garda station can be contacted on 041-6871139 or the garda confidential line is at 1800666111.