A NUMBER of foreign nationals were being questioned last night by gardai investigating the fatal stabbing of a man in Dublin early yesterday morning. Mr Liam Martin (23) was stabbed during a fracas in the Abrakebabra fast-food restaurant in O'Connell Street.
Witnesses said Mr Martin, a security guard, was having a meal with friends when they became involved in an argument with a number of men in the restaurant at about 1.30 am.
One man produced a knife and Mr Martin was stabbed 15 times, sustaining severe injuries. He was taken to the Mater Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. He was pronounced dead at 8 a.m.
A second man also suffered stab wounds during the incident, but he was released from hospital after treatment.
Mr Martin was off-duty at the time. He worked for the Group 4 security firm at business premises elsewhere in the city, had finished work for the day and was in O'Connell Street to socialise with friends.
The firm said its staff were "shocked and saddened" by his death.
Mr Martin was originally from Carlow, but was living in Phibsboro, Dublin, and had worked full-time for Group 4 for about a year. He is believed to have received some self-defence instruction as part of his training.
His parents travelled from Carlow to Dublin yesterday to formally identify his body.
Investigating officers were not clear yesterday how the argument began. While there are closed-circuit television cameras along O'Connell Street, there are none inside the restaurant.
Yesterday afternoon, gardai arrested five men, all foreign nationals, in the city. The men were being held at Store Street station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows detention without charge for up to 12 hours.
Gardai appealed for witnesses to the incident or anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time to come forward.
The restaurant is close to the Gresham Hotel and at the busier end of O'Connell Street at night. Gardai are frequently called to disputes among youths streaming out of nearby nightclubs and retailers have complained in recent weeks about trouble in the area, particularly resulting from late-night drinking.
In March, Mr Niall St Leger, from Crumlin, was assaulted outside the Abrakebabra restaurant. He was kicked and punched by a number of youths and sustained head injuries. He died two days later.
Last year, gardai arrested an average of three people a day on O'Connell Street for public order offences.
The Garda recently announced "Operation Mainstreet", an initiative aimed at reducing open drug-dealing around the Anna Livia fountain in the centre of the street, which has become a focal point for drug-dealers and addicts forced from flats complexes and housing estates by community anti-drug patrols.