Tipperary village in shock after young father's knife death

A close-knit village was in shock tonight after a young father was stabbed to death outside his home.

Sean Murphy, 28, was knifed in the street in Lattin, Co Tipperary last night after a row broke out.

A man in his 40s is being questioned by detectives about the attack – the second stabbing death over the weekend.

Mr Murphy, a labourer, was understood to have two young children aged one and three.

Fine Gael councillor Michael Fitzgerald, who knows Sean’s mother Peggy, said: “You wouldn’t meet finer people. This is a terrible tragedy for the family. They’re a big family with a lot of connections, hard working, decent people.”

It is understood gardaí are not looking for anyone else in connection with the death.

The arrested man can be held at Tipperary garda station for up to 24 hours under section four of the Criminal Justice Act.

The attack came just a day after former soldier Warren O’Connor was fatally stabbed in north Dublin.

The 24-year-old had been visiting the Beeches apartments in Donaghmede when an argument over noise broke out at about 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 crash and later died.

Tipperary councillor Mary Hanna Hourigan, also Fine Gael, hit out at the criminal justice system and claimed the courts were not giving tough enough sentences to deter violence.

“It’s shocking for us,” she said. “They (criminals) need to be taken to task and they need to pay the price. We are far too lenient in Ireland.”