The murder of a Dublin man has been described as a "horrific beating and very savage assault".
Christy Cawley (33), a married father of six from Tyrone Place, Inchicore, was stabbed and beaten in the flats complex where he lived, on Vincent Street West in the Dublin suburb.
Two people are believed to have been involved in the attack. They were reportedly carrying a baseball bat and hammer. It is understood, however, that the fatal injuries were caused by stab wounds to Mr Cawley's body.
A postmortem was being carried out at St James's Hospital yesterday by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy.
A number of lines of inquiry are being followed, including the belief that it was a drugs-related dispute between a number of people in the Inchicore area.
Mr Cawley, who was well known in the area, was also known to gardaí. It is believed that one of those at the scene was recently released from prison.
Mr Cawley was found by gardaí in a stairwell after they received a call to a disturbance at about 7.45pm on Sunday. He was seriously injured. He received emergency treatment at the scene and was moved to St James's Hospital, but he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Up to 30 detectives and gardaí were involved in follow-up searches. Gardaí continued house-to- house inquiries throughout yesterday. The area of the Dublin City Council flats where he was found was sealed off through the day while the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a forensic examination.
Mr Cawley's is the second stabbing in Dublin over the weekend, following the death of Tony McGrath (23), a father of one, from a single stab wound to the chest after an altercation at his home in Whitestown Walk near Blanchardstown, early on Sunday morning.
These two deaths bring to 53 the number of people violently killed this year, 21 of whom were stabbed.
A number of items were found in follow-up searches in the vicinity of the Inchicore attack, and gardaí are awaiting the results of a full forensic examination, to establish if they are connected with the murder.
Supt Thady Muldoon, who is leading the investigation, said gardaí had had "fantastic co-operation from the local community and we are extremely grateful". He described Mr Cawley's murder as a "horrific beating and very savage assault".
Gardaí believe there were more than 100 individuals in the vicinity a short time after the assault and that a number of people witnessed it.
Supt Muldoon appealed for anyone with information or who was in the area between 7.30pm- 8.15pm on Sunday to contact them at Kilmainham Garda station on (01) 666 9700; the incident room at (01) 666 9749; or the confidential line on 1800 666 111.
