Gardaí probing if house party continued after man fatally attacked

Gardaí are investigating if a man found dead at his rented apartment was fatally attacked at a party there, which then continued for a number of hours before the alarm was raised.

The dead man has been named locally as 29-year-old Vincent Maher. Gardaí were this afternoon questioning two suspects, both Dublin men in their 20s.

The death of Mr Maher, a father of one, occurred in the early hours of yesterday morning at the Spring Mount apartments, Wellmount Rd, Finglas, north Dublin.

Gardaí believe a number of people had gathered there and had been drinking when a dispute broke out and Mr Maher was attacked.

A post mortem revealed he had suffered blunt force trauma. While the investigation is yet to be officially upgraded to a murder inquiry, Garda sources said all the resources of a murder investigation have been committed to the case.

While the fighting at the party is believed to have occurred at some time between 4.30am and 5.30am on Saturday, it was not until just before 11am that gardai received an emergency call alerting them to the fact the attack had occurred.

Gardaí found Mr Maher’s remains in the bedroom of the ground floor apartment.

The dead man was an unemployed construction worker and while he had a number of criminal convictions, they were for minor offences.

State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy examined the remains at the scene before the body was taken to the city morgue, Marino, north Dublin, for a full post mortem.

The deceased was found on his bed, where it appears he died in the hours between being attacked and a caller raising the alarm.

Gardaí believe the gathering at the apartment began at around 8pm on Friday and continued until around 8am yesterday.

One source said people “were coming and going” through the night but it was believed several people remained drinking in the apartment after the attack until around 8am while Mr Maher lay dying or dead on his bed for several hours.

It was not until 11am that a man called to the apartment and found Mr Maher’s remains.

While a number of people who were at the gathering have been traced and spoken to, gardaí believe other partygoers were also present and have urged them to come forward and assist the investigation.

Finglas gardaí have also urged any taxi drivers who may have collected people from the party at any stage early yesterday to contact them in confidence.

Gardaí arrested two men in their 20s in Finglas yesterday evening. They were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, allowing for their detention without charge for up to 24 hours. They were both still being questioned this afternoon in Finglas garda station.

The apartment where Mr Maher died was sealed off immediately gardai arrived on the scene yesterday morning and has undergone a forensic examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.