A Limerick man whose dead body was found under a bridge in the city was due to celebrate his 25th birthday yesterday. Kathryn Hayes reports.
Keith Ryan died after suffering head injuries in a row which took place near Shannon Bridge on Thursday night.
Gardaí were alerted after a passerby discovered the body on a walkway underneath the bridge near St Michael's rowing club at around 11pm.
Two people were spotted running from the scene shortly before the alarm was raised.
A full postmortem was carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy at the Mid Western Hospital yesterday.
Initial results indicated that Mr Ryan's death was due to head injuries.
Gardaí investigating his murder, which is not believed to be feud-related, arrested three men shortly before lunchtime yesterday.
The three, all in their 20s, were being detained yesterday at Henry Street and Mayorstone Garda stations.
They are being questioned under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act, which enables them to be held for up to 12 hours.
Insp Ann-Marie McMahon, who is leading the murder investigation, last night appealed to anybody who may have witnessed a row near the scene of Thursday night's murder to contact gardaí.
"We are particularly anxious to talk to anybody who witnessed an altercation that we believe took place shortly before the incident was reported to us," said Insp McMahon.
The dead man, who was single, was known to gardaí but only for minor offences, according to Insp McMahon.
His death is not thought to be feud-related, but more likely a street fight that got out of control, according to local sources.
No weapon was recovered at the scene, which was sealed off for technical examination yesterday.
Mr Ryan was living in Farranshone in Limerick city at the time of his death.
His was the second murder in the Limerick Garda division in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, Aidan Kelly (19) was murdered in a gangland- style killing near the village of Ardnacrusha, Co Clare.
Mr Kelly was shot up to five times and left for dead in a country lane in Blackwater two miles from Limerick city.
Nobody has been charged in connection with his death, but gardaí this week confirmed that a shotgun found at the scene was not the murder weapon.
Mr Kelly's family has continued to insist that his death was not feud-related.