A full-scale murder investigation was opened in Limerick yesterday following the discovery early in the morning of the body of Mr Robert Fitzgerald (23) a few hours after he left a house party in Moyross.
Gardaí were last night trying to establish a motive for the murder and said that they had no information at this stage to suggest that it was linked to recent shootings or the ongoing feud in the city.
"No connection has been established yet with recent violent incidents in the Moyross area or the ongoing Limerick feud situation. The victim was definitely not involved in any major criminal activity that we know of, although he was known to gardaí," said Insp John Courtney.
It is understood that Mr Fitzgerald had been in court as recently as last week on a minor charge, but the case had been struck out.
Insp Courtney confirmed that the dead man had been at a party before his death and that he was last seen alive at about 3 a.m. Gardaí were night interviewing people who had attended the party in an effort to establish a motive for the violent death.
Mr Fitzgerald's body was found lying in wasteland off College Park, Moyross. Early indications suggest he was shot in the back of the head, but gardaí are awaiting results of the preliminary post-mortem before confirming the exact cause of death.
The dead man's father, Mr Robert Fitzgerald snr, who lives in London, was travelling from England yesterday after learning of his son's murder.
The victim's uncle, Mr John Fitzgerald, said: "The people that did this are animals. Robert was a very popular young fellow.
"He would have known people involved in this ongoing feud but he wasn't part of it. I really don't know why this happened, but I cannot believe that the ERU [Emergency Response Unit] who were brought into Limerick last January have been sent back to Dublin. Nothing has changed here." A single man, Mr Robert Fitzgerald was a second cousin of Mr Brian Fitzgerald, the Limerick bouncer who was shot dead near his home in Corbally last November.
Yesterday's murder was the third violent incident in the Moyross area in five days. Two men are still recovering at Limerick Regional Hospital.
On Monday two men appeared before a special sitting of Limerick District Court charged in connection with one of the shootings.