THERE WAS shock and disbelief among residents of the small village of Ballinderry in Co Tipperary, last night as they absorbed the news reports from Bolivia.
Some of the customers in the only pub, the Tavern Bar, said they knew Michael Dwyer and were very upset by the news.
JP D’Arcy (23) a friend of Mr Dwyer described him as “a lovely guy and a very decent and reasonable character”.
He said: “I heard he was shot dead in South America and hoped it was not true”.
Mr Dwyer was a university graduate who lived in Galway after he left the family home. He is understood to have played for Shannon Rovers GAA club near Borrisokane when he was younger.
Mr Dwyer’s parents are both still alive and he also has two sisters.
Mr D’Arcy said: “As far as I know, Michael was on holiday in Bolivia with a friend. He was staying in a hostel there and I heard it was raided and he was shot.” He came from “a very respectable family, was a hard worker and a nice guy. I had a lot of time for him and he had a lot of time for me”, he continued.
“He was into travelling and the last time I was talking to him was a few months ago when he was working with his father who is an electrician. I know his family well and Michael and I used to travel on the same school bus together.”
Ronan Donoghue (20) from the nearby village of Coolbawn, who was working behind the bar in the tavern last night, said everyone in the area was very upset about the news. Mr Donoghue, who also knows the Dwyer family, said he was shocked by news reports.
A young man in Ballinderry who did not wish to be named said “reports that Mr Dwyer might be a mercenary were simply unbelievable.
“They are saying he was planning an assassination, but, far from planning an assassination he wouldn’t plan his own birthday.”
A member of Mr Dwyer’s family confirmed the 25-year-old had died in unexplained circumstances while travelling in Bolivia, and requested that the media not visit the family home.