Gardaí have launched a wide-ranging investigation following the death of a young Claregalway man who was found with stab wounds in the city centre in the early hours of yesterday.
The young man who lost his life after the knife attack was named locally yesterday as Kieran Cunningham (20 ), from Slievefin in Claregalway.
Gardaí launched a major operation following Mr Cunningham’s death, with forensic examinations taking place in the city centre yesterday. Plans are also under way to interview all the patrons who attended Karma nightclub, where he had been socialising before the incident that led to his death, and to examine CCTV footage from a number of cameras in the area where he was found.
Mr Cunningham is understood to have left Karma nightclub at 2.11am yesterday morning at the end of a night out with friends, and was found on the footpath in Williamsgate Street with stab wounds just minutes later. Two of his friends alerted nearby gardaí to the incident, and Mr Cunningham was brought to UHG by a Garda squad car. He was pronounced dead in the hospital shortly after 2am.
Chief Superintendent Tom Curley appealed yesterday to anyone who was in the vicinity of Karma nightclub, Williamsgate Street, or Eglinton Street between 2.10am and 2.30am yesterday to contact gardaí. Some 150 people were in Karma nightclub on the night of the stabbing, and gardaí are anxious to speak to all of these people so they can be eliminated from the Garda investigation.
Chief Supt Curley has also appealed to other pedestrians in the city centre, as well as taxi drivers and motorists, to contact gardaí. He said Tuesday night had been a particularly quiet night in the city centre, and very few people were on the streets when the stabbing occurred. Mr Cunningham was described as five feet one inch tall, of thin build, and he was wearing a red top and jeans on the night he died. Gardaí have appealed to anyone who saw him in Karma or in Williamsgate Street to get in touch.
Chief Supt Curley said there was nothing to suggest that Mr Cunningham had been involved in any altercation prior to receiving his injuries, or that he knew his assailant.
Mr Cunningham had been out socialising in a group of six friends on Tuesday night, and a number of these had left the nightclub before he made his way out into Williamsgate Street. Two of the young man’s friends found him lying on the pavement across the road from the alley leading to the nightclub, and alerted nearby gardaí to his injuries.
The scene of the stabbing was sealed off throughout yesterday as forensic experts from the Garda Technical Bureau examined the scene and gardaí carried out a number of searches in an attempt to locate the weapon used in the assault. Deputy State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis travelled to Galway yesterday evening to carry out a post mortem on Mr Cunningham’s remains.
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Mr Cunningham was the eldest of three children and had been working on the deli counter in Hughes’ supermarket in Claregalway for the past 18 months.
Mr Cunningham’s friends and relatives left tributes to the popular young man on his Bebo page yesterday, where his wide circle of friends expressed their shock at his violent death.
“RIP Kieran, I will miss you dearly,” one friend said on the social networking site. “Can’t believe some1 would stab such a lovely person.”
“RIP cuz, we love you dearly,” another poster added, “we will never forget you! Love you lots xxxx.”
Another friend added: “Rest in peace Kieran. You were a ledge and will never be forgotten.”
Anyone with information on the attack on Mr Cunningham is asked to contact Galway Garda Station at (091 ) 538000.
