Gardaí to examine CCTV footage

GARDAÍ WILL examine CCTV footage taken on the M4/M6 toll pass as part of their investigations into last Tuesday’s murder of Co Offaly publican Matt Farrell.

Gardaí are now examining the possibility that he was the target of a Dublin-based gang who might have used the M4 that night.

Mr Farrell (64) died after he was hit over the head early on Tuesday morning. He was tied to a chair by burglars who broke into his Gaelic Bar pub in Daingean.

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis concluded that Mr Farrell died after being hit over the head, but it is not clear whether he was hit with a blunt instrument or was assaulted.

At first it was thought that Mr Farrell, who was in poor health, died of a heart attack as a result of his ordeal, but the investigation was upgraded to murder following Dr Curtis’s postmortem.

Mr Farrell was last seen alive by a member of staff at 2.30am on Tuesday and was found dead by his son Matthew at 7.30am.

A Garda source said they were examining CCTV footage from the M4/M6 toll booth and CCTV footage from Daingean.

Premises within about an hour’s drive of Dublin have frequently been the target of late-night raids by gangs from the capital. A pub in Mullingar was targeted in a similar fashion last month and the publican was tied up.

Gardaí have described the Daingean investigation as a “long haul”. A Garda source said: “Whoever did this picked the wrong place. It was not a place where there was going to be a lot of money in.”

There were very few customers in the pub on the night that Mr Farrell died although the local GAA lottery draw had taken place there. He had made a substantial cash lodgement earlier in the week.

Further toxicology tests are being carried out on Mr Farrell at the Midland Regional Hospital.

Garda spokesman Insp John Gilligan has appealed for help from the public to find his killers. Any one with information should contact Tullamore Garda station at (057) 932 7078.