A garda under investigation following the death of a man in Dublin city centre last week has been suspended from duty.
The 51-year-old man suffered severe head injuries after hitting his head off the ground in the early hours of last Friday morning outside the Holiday Inn on O’Connell Street.
He died in hospital on Tuesday.
The circumstances of the man’s death are being investigated by Fiosrú, the police ombudsman, as the deceased had interacted with gardaí immediately before the fall.
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The incident was referred to Fiosrú by An Garda Síochána.
On Wednesday evening, one of the gardaí who was at the scene was informed that he was to be suspended while the investigation takes place.
In a statement, a garda spokesman confirmed the move on Thursday afternoon. “A member of An Garda Síochána based in the Dublin Region has been suspended from duty in connection with an ongoing investigation being carried out by the Office of the Police Ombudsman, Fiosrú.”
The exact nature of the interaction between the garda and the deceased remains unclear.
Neither the Fiosrú referral nor the garda’s suspension means the member is being accused of any offence.
Fiosrú is obliged by law to investigate all instances involving gardaí which result in death or serious injury.
It will be up to the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine if there is a criminal case. It is understood the garda has denied any wrongdoing.
The garda was in a patrol car with a sergeant on O’Connell Street just after 4am when they spotted the man in what they believed to be an intoxicated state.
The gardaí told investigators they approached the man after they saw him at the traffic island in the street. During this interaction, the man fell to the ground.
It is not known if the garda had physical contact with the man, who comes from a north Dublin family.
The man was taken to hospital and an on-call investigator from Fiosrú attended the scene.
The incident was not captured on the Garda car’s dashcam but investigators were able to obtain CCTV footage from other cameras on the street, sources said.
A postmoterm is due to take place, the results of which will likely help determine the course of the investigation, sources said.
Garda headquarters said the matter had been referred to Fiosrú “following an interaction between a member of the public and an on duty Garda member on Friday, August 15th, 2025.
Fiosrú, formerly known as the An Garda Síochána Ombudsman (Gsoc), said it wants to hear from anyone who was near the Holiday Inn on O’Connell Street at about 4.15am on Friday.
This includes passing vehicles and taxis that may have dashcam or mobile phone footage from the area.
“Anyone with information which may be of assistance to this independent investigation is asked to contact Fiosrú at 0818 600 800 or info@fiosrú.ie,” it said.
