Brother questioned in connection with woman's violent death

The brother of a woman who died after being beaten about the head with a fire poker was tonight being quizzed by detectives over the violent death.

Brenda Ahearne was found in a house in the south of Waterford City with the rod lodged in her skull in the early hours of the morning.

She was rushed to hospital but frantic efforts by medics to revive her proved unsuccessful.

Her 31 year-old brother was arrested at the house around 2.30am and taken into custody.

Local Fine Gael councillor John Cummins said the brutal death had stunned the area.

“Everybody is talking about it, it is a huge blow to the community,” he said.

“It is a tight-knit community for something like that to happen, and everybody is certainly affected by it.”

Gardaí were called to the two-storey house at Richardsons Meadows, Kilcohan, in the early hours of the morning where they discovered Ms Ahearne with serious head injuries.

It is believed the 30-year-old lived elsewhere in the city and was visiting the area for the evening when the violent incident occurred.

Emergency services were called to the scene and she was rushed to Waterford Regional Hospital, but died a short time later.

Residents of the quiet residential area said they were shocked and saddened by the death.

The man arrested at the house was being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be detained for up to 24 hours.

The scene was preserved for gardaí to carry out a technical examination and the state pathologist was called in to carry out an examination.