IT WAS not long after 11am yesterday morning that a tearful Louise Dunne arrived at the scene of her ex-partner's murder in Newcastle, bearing flowers.
Accompanied by the couple's daughter from their previous relationship, she approached the Garda cordon, where she handed over the flowers to the officer on duty.
A few moments later, as she prepared to get back into her car, she agreed to speak to a small group of reporters at the newly built housing estate, composed mainly of apartments, townhouses and semi-detached homes.
John Berney was a loving dad who had three children with his current partner, and one - eight-year-old Jasmine - with herself, she said. His other three children are Kelsey (5), Tyler (3) and John (1), she said.
He would have been 30 in the summer, and was due to take Jasmine on holidays.
"He loved his kids," she said. "He was a bit hectic in his day, but had quietened down."
Mr Berney was in college studying to be a gym instructor, Ms Dunne added.
While he was in trouble with the police when he was younger, he was trying to get his life back together, she said.
His current partner, who witnessed the attack, was very distressed and had gone to stay with her family following the murder, Ms Dunne explained.
The flowers Ms Dunne brought were later to be seen lying outside the house on Castlelyon Drive, where he was killed.
One neighbour said the dead man, who previously lived in Tallaght and Ballyfermot, had been renting the house and had moved in with his partner and children just before Christmas.
Another said: "I can't get over it. There isn't even a Garda station here in Newcastle, it's that small and that quiet."
The Castlelyon complex is relatively new and is adjacent to another complex currently under construction. Speaking at the scene yesterday, management agent for the Castlelyon complex, Charlie Smith, said most of the units were filled, with mainly young families living there. Many people work in the city during the day, he added.
"There's been no break-ins or anything like that here," he told The Irish Times. "With other places you would get a lot of problems with loud noise and music. To be honest, we've had no real problems at all."