Finglas murder victim named

The man whose body was discovered in Finglas on Friday morning has today been named.

The man whose body was discovered in Finglas on Friday morning has today been named.

The body of Maurice Martin (21) from Navan, Co Meath, was discovered at the junction between Cardiffsbridge Rd and Tolka Valley road, was discovered by a taxi driver just after 5am.

Martin had been stabbed repeatedly in the neck and chest. Gardaí are working on the theory that he had been involved in a fight in the early hours of yesterday morning, which culminated in a sustained knife attack.

The man had lost a lot of blood at the scene, and there was also blood on the road close by and on the garden wall of a house.

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Investigations into the death of Martin and of a second man whose body was found in a field near Balbriggan on the same morning are continuings

The two murders are not believed to be linked.

The second man found on Friday had been shot in the head in what gardaí believe was a gangland attack.

The victim has been named as Paul Smith, a 34-year-old from Dunsink Drive, Finglas, Dublin, who also had an address at Dunleer, Co Louth. His was the 14th gun murder of the year.

Mr Smith was reported missing by his family this week and a Garda search for him had begun. As part of that search gardaí went to a field in Ballough, about four miles from Balbriggan in north Co Dublin on the old Belfast road, just before midday yesterday, and found the remains. The dead man had kept horses nearby.

Garda sources said the victim had been shot in the head. They believe the murder weapon was a handgun. Gardaí think Mr Smith was most likely shot somewhere else and his body taken to Ballough to be dumped.

Smith was known to gardaí, but his convictions were for minor matters including public disorder and criminal damage. While he was not regarded as a major gangland figure, gardaí are investigating whether his murder is linked to organised crime.