Gardaí continue to question three in relation to fatal ennis stabbing

Gardaí in Ennis were last night continuing to question three men in relation to the fatal stabbing of a 31-year-old Polish national in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The victim was named as Piotr Nowakowski. It is understood he was stabbed a number of times in a house at Sandfield Mews in Ennis shortly after 1am.

The property is located across the road from Ennis General Hospital.

However, the emergency services could not admit Mr Nowakowski to the hospital due to the closure of its emergency department and he died en route to Shannon Airport where a helicopter was due to transfer him to Cork University Hospital.

Mr Nowakowski had been living on and off at the house at Sandfield Mews in recent weeks and is understood to have been drinking with people currently being questioned by gardaí when he was stabbed.

A second man was found injured near the scene.

Mr Nowakowski had appeared before the local District Court on minor public order offences and had also stayed at the local hostel for homeless men in Ennis, Laurel Lodge.

He had also lived in Shannon for a period.

A postmortem was yesterday carried out on the body of Mr Nowakowski by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis at Limerick Regional Hospital.

Garda Supt Derek Smart said Mr Nowakowski's sister – who lives in the Ennis area – came forward yesterday to formally identify her brother.

“Mr Nowakowski had lived in Ennis for a number of years, had been employed but had fallen on hard times,” Garda Supt Smart said.

He added that gardaí were following a definite line of inquiry in the case. “We are actively interviewing those in custody at the moment and I am happy with how the investigation is progressing.”

Gardaí were yesterday conducting house-to-house inquiries at the Sandfield Mews as part of the investigation into Mr Nowakowski’s death.