Man was 'shot dead in bed next to fiancee'

A man was shot dead today as he lay sleeping in bed next to his fiancee in Belturbet, Co Cavan.

The couple’s 13-month-old baby girl was in the next room when the killer climbed the stairs of the house in Belturbet, Co Cavan and opened fire.

The 31-year-old victim, named locally as Darren McGrath, is believed to be originally from the Mahon area of Cork.

His partner, Nicole Lennon, who recently fought cancer and was looking forward to their life together, was said to be distraught after the attack in the middle of the night.

Detectives have launched a murder hunt for the lone killer and his accomplice who was waiting near the scene in a getaway car.

Sinead Donohoe, chairwoman of Belturbet Town Council, who knows Ms Lennon’s family, said the usually quiet town was numb with shock.

“There’s a little girl growing up without her dad now, for the rest of her life. It’s dreadful,” she said.

“People can’t speak. We would never in a million years dream anything like this could happen. The streets are dead, people can’t talk, they don’t know how to talk.”

The dead man was staying with his 19-year-old fiancee and their child at her mother’s home at Annagh Park in the council-built Kilconny estate in Belturbet.

It is believed the gunman entered the house sometime around 5am, climbed the stairs and entered the couple’s bedroom where he opened fire.

The victim was shot several times while the woman and the baby both escaped physically uninjured.

Neighbours said Ms Lennon is originally from Dublin but moved to Belturbet with her mother and two sisters in the mid-1990s.

Mr McGrath’s body was removed from the murder scene after a preliminary post-mortem examination by Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis for further tests at Cavan General Hospital.

The house was sealed off for forensic examination by experts from the Garda Technical Bureau.