GARDAÍ BELIEVE that a man stabbed to death in Tipperary was targeted as part of a long-running feud in Waterford, even though he was not personally involved.
Willie Stokes (47), a member of the Travelling community, was fatally stabbed as he sat in his van outside a supermarket in Tipperary town at 6pm on Friday. His 11-year-old son was with him.
Gardaí believe at least two men approached the van at the junction of Kickham Place and Abbey Street.
Mr Stokes, a horse dealer, was stabbed a number of times, but managed to kick his attackers away and start up his van.
He tried to speed from the scene. However, he lost consciousness and his van came to a halt a short distance away at the junction of Bridge Street and Main Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gardaí believe at least one of the men who attacked him was armed with a slash-hook type weapon.
Mr Stokes’s son was not physically injured in the attack.
Gardaí have launched a murder inquiry and arrested five people, three women and two men, over the weekend in Waterford. The women and one of the men were still being questioned last night.
Gardaí believe the killing is linked to a Traveller feud between two families in Waterford.
Mr Stokes had lived in Tipperary for two decades and was not involved in the feud. However, some of his close associates have been involved in the violence.
Gardaí believe Mr Stokes was targeted by one side of the feud simply to “get at” the other side.
Detectives are investigating if the attackers may have mistaken Mr Stokes for one of their rivals. However, sources said this seems unlikely.
The feud began around two years ago at a Traveller bare-knuckle fight in a field near the John’s Park housing estate in Waterford city.
A violent row broke out between two opposing families. That row began a feud between the two families that has continued for two years. Mr Stokes was linked to one of the families.
Last year more than 140 incidents arising from the dispute were recorded, more than 80 people have been arrested and more than half of these have appeared in court.
There have been a large number of petrol-bomb attacks on the homes of settled Travellers across Waterford and a number of shootings in which a teenage boy, a girl and a man in his 20s were wounded but survived.
Rivals have also attacked cars and other property.
A peace deal was brokered with the help of an American gang-violence mediator this year. However, there are fears Mr Stokes’s murder, the first killing linked to the feud, will lead to renewed violence.