Bewildered family members and friends of 50-year-old Leong Ly Min gathered in silence in his west Tallaght home yesterday, desperately trying to come to terms with the Chinese-Vietnamese businessman's tragic death.
While his grief-stricken wife and five children slept, exhausted after their three-day vigil by Mr Leong's bedside in St James's Hospital, relatives were busy preparing for his funeral service, which is to be held later this week.
Mr Leong was attacked and kicked in the head by two men while walking through Temple Bar with a friend at 2 a.m. last Friday. It appears that the attack was unprovoked. He was rushed to St James's, but never regained consciousness before his death early yesterday.
Leong Ly Min and his young bride were among the first so-called "boat people" to arrive in Ireland from war-torn Vietnam under an Irish Red Cross refugee programme in 1979.
Ireland opened its arms to 500 of the "boat people", many of whom settled in west Tallaght and have made good lives for themselves since.
But, after 23 happy years in Ireland, the Leong family's dream of peace and security lay shattered last night.
Mr Leong initially worked as an apprentice mechanic. However, as his family grew, he decided to start his own business.
At first, he set up a mobile Chinese take-away business, and he ended up owning two Chinese take-aways - one in Tallaght village and the other in Ballymun.
On their arrival in Ireland the family were housed by Dublin Corporation in Kilmartin Gardens in Fettercairn, Tallaght, where they still live today.
Mr Leong was the father of five children ranging in age from their early teens to 23.
His eldest daughter, who was on holiday in Canada, rushed home to be with her father after she received news of the attack.
A cousin of the dead man told The Irish Times that it was impossible to believe Mr Leong died just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"We just cannot believe that this could happen in this country, which has been so good to us," said the relative, who did not want to be named.
Inside Mr Leong's home, a group of women were squatting on the sitting-room floor, making veils from white cotton to wear during the funeral service.
Through an interpreter, Mr To Hoa, a close friend of Mr Leong, told of the Chinese community's shock at the death.
"He was a good, peace-loving man. He worked hard for his family. This is surprising and unusual and so sad."
Mr Leong was vice-president of the Chinese-Vietnamese Association. Its secretary said that everyone was shattered at his death. "What more can I say? We are so upset."
Dr Katherine Chan Mullen, the president of the Irish-Chinese Association, which was established in May to assist the Chinese community in Ireland, said that there had been an increase in racist attacks on the Chinese community in recent months.
"I am 28 years in Ireland and until recently I can say there was never any trouble. I love Irish people, but recently we are getting more and more reports of Chinese people having trouble. The association received two complaints of middle-aged respectable Chinese who have had eggs thrown at them for no reason."
Dr Chan was with Mr Leong's family in St James's Hospital over the weekend, helping the doctors to explain to them the seriousness of his injuries.
With the huge number of Chinese coming to Ireland, the Irish-Chinese Association has set up a helpline to assist newcomers to the State.
Last January, a Chinese student, Mr Zhao Liu Tao, died after he was attacked while walking home near Beaumont Hospital in Dublin in what is believed to have been the first racist murder in Ireland. He died after being struck with a metal bar.