A MURDER investigation is under way into the stabbing of a 17-year-old second-level student in Killarney, Co Kerry.
His body was discovered early yesterday a short distance from his home on Ross Road, a tourist route in the town.
Stephen Lyne, from Castle Falls, Ross Road, one of five children, is understood to have suffered a single stab wound.
He was a student at the Killarney Community College, where counselling was yesterday made available to staff and students.
He had been socialising in the town centre earlier in the night and was discovered by a passerby lying on his back on a grass margin a short distance from his home in a development alongside the Killarney Racecourse at 1.30am.
The cul-de-sac is one of the town’s major tourist routes leading to Ross Castle and the Copper Mines, and the Killarney lakes.
The area contains some of the town’s most exclusive property, and is a popular walking area.
Gardaí were interviewing a large number of young people who may have met the victim in the town centre in the course of the night.
They were also examining a large amount of CCTV footage, as the teenager had been in a number of different locations and had met different people, according to Garda sources.
They are seeking to establish whether he walked home alone or was with another person at the time of the attack.
Teaching staff at Killarney Community College – at which Stephen had completed fourth year and was due to enter the Leaving Cert year in September – held a meeting yesterday.
In a statement, the college said Lyne had been a popular, award-winning student, and this was a difficult time for the school.
“It was with sadness that we heard of Stephen Lyne’s death. Stephen was a popular student with staff and pupils. He contributed greatly to the life of the school and recently received a class endeavour award for organising a whole school soccer tournament. He was involved in the college garden project where he made a beautiful wall mosaic. He will be sadly missed by everyone,” the statement said.
The school offered its sympathy to his family. Critical incident response procedures had been put into motion, the school also said.
A large grass area and a nearby field were sealed off yesterday and were being carefully searched.
The body remained screened off until the arrival of Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster at lunchtime after which it was removed to Kerry General Hospital, where Dr Bolster carried out a postmortem.
Killarney Garda Supt Michael Maher, who is heading the investigation and who visited Ross Road yesterday along with Chief Supt John Kerins, said gardaí arrived quickly on the scene along with emergency medical services.
A doctor on duty with Southdoc, the town’s out-of-hours emergency medical service, pronounced him dead at the scene.
Gardaí believed the body was not there long. They are appealing for witnesses and have set up an incident room at Killarney Garda station.
Killarney curate Fr Kevin McNamara, who knows the family well, described the parents Denis and Lotte, who is originally Dutch, as very “dedicated” to their children and their church.
The whole family were regular Mass-goers, he said.
“We are devastated. They are a lovely family,” Fr McNamara said. “Our concern now, too, is for the young people who knew him. They will need support too,” Fr McNamara said.
Some 30 gardaí are involved in the investigation.
Gardaí are appealing for anyone who observed the teenager between 9.30pm on Wednesday night and 1.30am yesterday when his body was found on the Ross Road to contact them.
An incident room has been established at Killarney Garda station, and anyone with information is asked to contact 064-31222, or the Garda confidential telephone line 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.