Michael Dwyer's activity on social networking websites ranged from membership of the Willie O'Dea Fanclub to friendship with a middle-aged Eastern European war veteran, writes PATRICK LOGUE.
Perhaps his stated interest in shooting as his favourite activity on Facebook and pictures of him dressed in military fatigues during Airsoft games on his Bebo page drew a picture of a young man that fits neatly with the story of a plot to kill Bolivian president Evo Morales.
Michael Dwyer's online friendship with Eduardo Rozsa Flores (49), who was also shot dead in a Bolivian hotel on Thursday morning, may be unusual and add another piece to the jigsaw of the story. Mr Flores was a Bolivian-Hungarian who fought in separatist movements in the former Yugoslavia. According to reports Mr Flores commanded a brigade in the Balkans after arriving there as a war correspondent in 1991.
Mr Dwyer describes himself on his Facebook profile as a big music fan and says his favourite television show is The Unit, an American drama based on a top-secret counter-terrorism military unit. His favourite quote is “Don’t get involved in something that you cant walk out on in 30 seconds flat” from the film Heat, and "Just do what ya can today. Tomorrow is another day.”
But much of his social network activity was run-of-the-mill and normal for a young man of his age and the overall picture falls short of providing any hard evidence of involvement in a secret plot.
Mr Dwyer’s last status update on his Facebook account on April 9th last said he was “playing Motorcycle Madness and just achieved Level 6, Tricycle III”.
He was a member of the Willie O’Dea Fan Club on Facebook, a group set up to poke fun at the Minister for Defence and another group calling for the return of the Thurles music festival Feile. In the last number of months he had uploaded hundreds of photographs entitled “hols” showing him and unidentified friends socialising in high spirits in what is believed to be Bolivia. There are also several albums of pictures taken in Ireland.
Mr Dwyer's hometown is listed on Facebook as Galway, where he took a course in construction studies at the GMIT and his date of birth June15th, 1984. He had listed himself as being in a relationship and that his interests were “shooting, music and cars”.
He finished studying in Galway six months ago before taking a job as a bouncer with a security company in the city. It is believed he was working with another security company in South America when he was killed last week.
As news broke of the Bolivian incident one simple message on his Bebo site read: “RIP Bro” before the page was changed to private.
However, a small number of messages began appearing on his Facebook page on Saturday from some of his 324 friends, with one reading: “Mick I can't believe it's true and you've been taken from us.
“My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Rest in peace my friend. I'll always remember the great times we had in Galway and will miss you. Xxxx”
Another said: “I love you cousin.. may you rest in peace. We all love you dearly… save me a place on the other side”. Another said: “It can't be true, it just can't”.