Gardaí arrest man over Phoenix Park murder

Gardaí investigating the murder of man who was burnt alive in a sleeping bag in Dublin’s Phoenix Park have made an arrest.

A 27-year-old man was detained in connection with the incident in Dublin earlier today.

He is being questioned by detectives at Finglas Garda station.

Gardaí are still trying to identify the victim, though he is believed to be a homeless man.

His body was found near the Wellington monument in Phoenix Park in the early hours of Friday morning.

He was violently beaten before being burnt alive in a sleeping bag.

A post-mortem examination revealed that he was still alive, but probably beaten unconscious, when he was set on fire.

Earlier today, the Archbishop of Dublin said he was horrified at the brutality of the murder.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin called on Christians to be awake and attentive to where society is slipping into wrong ways.

In his homily at the Church of Saint Andrew on Westland Row, Dublin, Archbishop Martin said nations are still raising weaponry against others. "In our own city how often do we read about knives being raised in violence and guns in vengeance and lives — young lives — being ruined?," he asked the congregation at a mass marking the first Sunday of advent.

"Like you, I am horrified to see in our world of progress and enlightenment that men and women and children are driven in their hundreds of thousands from the homes through wars as in Syria.

“Like you, I am horrified by the news of someone being burned alive in the Phoenix Park in these days.

“Christians in our society must find the ways to speak up and stand up as witnesses to the God of peace and loving care.

“Advent, then, is a moment in which we should interrupt our daily life and think about what is essential.”

Detectives in Cabra have appealed for witnesses or anyone with information about the Phoenix Park killing to come forward.

Additional reporting by PA