Family of homeless man killed in Cork plead for people to give any assistance they can to gardaí

The devastated family of Timmy Hourihane, the homeless man who was beaten to death near Cork city at the weekend, has appealed to the public for help finding his killer.

Mr Hourihane’s family has also asked for privacy as they grieve his death.

Funeral arrangements will not be finalised until his remains are released to his next of kin later this week.

Their plea comes as gardaí continue their investigation into Mr Hourihane’s brutal death.

Originally from Bantry in West Cork, Mr Hourihane was found with critical injuries next to his burning tent just before 1am on Sunday morning.

He was rushed to Cork University Hospital where, despite the best efforts of medics, he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

A murder investigation was formally launched that afternoon after a post mortem confirmed he died as the result of injuries sustained during an assault.

Gardaí say they are making good progress in their investigation, which has included taking statements from people who were living in tents in the Mardyke Walk area, they have taken some items of clothing for forensic analysis from people who were staying there, they have harvested CCTV footage from the area in a bid to trace Mr Hourihane’s last-known movements, and they have conducted door-to-door enquiries.

In their statement, which was issued by the garda press office, Mr Hourihane’s family

Read More:

“The family would ask that people would give any assistance that they can to An Garda Síochána to help bring some closure to the matter. There will be no further statement or comment by, or on behalf of the family,” they said.

They also appealed to the media not to contact them in person or at their homes and that the funeral arrangements be treated as strictly private.

“Please give them time and space in this most difficult of times,” the statement said.