Tributes paid to stabbed soldier

Tributes were paid today to a gifted young footballer and former solider who was stabbed to death after a row in an apartment block.

Warren O’Connor, 24, was visiting the Beeches complex in Donaghmede, north Dublin, when an argument over noise broke out at around 1am on Saturday morning.

The dispute spilled outside and the two groups involved got into a pair of cars which crashed a short distance away on the Hole in the Wall Road.

Mr O’Connor, who was travelling in one of the vehicles, was knifed near the scene of the collision and later pronounced dead at Beaumont hospital.

It is understood the talented sportsman had become embroiled in a quarrel about loud music coming from another flat in the complex.

Mr O’Connor served with the Defence Forces in Dublin between 2003 and 2006 and was also a keen GAA player who had competed with St Laurence O’Toole’s club in the north of the city.

He spent four years at local soccer side Coolock Town FC and was named Player of the Year last year before moving to Premier A side Killester United during the summer.

Floral tributes were laid at the scene of the stabbing as friends and team mates came to terms with the untimely death.

“There’s a feeling of numbness among the members of our club – they’re a very close group of lads playing in the area and Warren was very popular,” Coolock Town manager Anthony Ryan said.

“He was a lovely bloke with a first-class attitude – he was one of the guys that made everyone feel welcome.”

Joey Graydon, manager at Killester United, said his club was also devastated.

“I never heard a cross word said about him, he was an easy-going lad and he enjoyed his football,” he added.

“He was a really, really nice boy, always pleasant and always laughing and joking. He wasn’t one of those people who would ever go looking for trouble.”

A knife has been recovered and both cars involved in the crash – a black Honda Civic and the silver Ford Focus Mr O’Connor was travelling in – were undergoing forensic examinations.

Gardaí have urged anyone with information on the attack to come forward.

Meanwhile, Labour councillor for Donaghmede Killian Forde called for tougher measures to fight knife crime.

“There needs to be follow-through and effective punishment for knife crime,” he said.

“Young men are harming each other unnecessarily with knives and that needs to be dealt with much more effectively by the courts.”