A man assaulted at a bus stop in Dublin city centre last Tuesday has died of his injuries. Sorcha Crowley reports
Mr James Kavanagh (36), from Malahide, sustained fatal head injuries as a result of being assaulted near a bus stop on Eden Quay on the north side of the Liffey just before nine o'clock that evening. He remained in a critical condition in the Mater Hospital until his death at 5.15 p.m. yesterday.
Detectives from Store Street Garda station believe there may have been an earlier incident outside a pub involving Mr Kavanagh and three other people.
It is thought Mr Kavanagh met the three people again at the 77A bus stop, where he may have been waiting for a bus. A punch or a push knocked him to the ground and he sustained serious head injuries. He was left unconscious on the pavement.
It is believed the three people involved may have boarded the 77A bus which goes from Eden Quay to The Square in Tallaght in south Co Dublin.
Gardaí are now examining CCTV footage from O'Connell Street to Eden Quay of the earlier incident outside a pub.
The death of Mr Kavanagh comes in the wake of the intense debate about safety on the streets of Dublin which followed last month's assault on a Sligo librarian, Mr Barry Duggan, in the Grafton Street area.
Mr Duggan later made a full recovery, but the attack on him led to calls for a greater Garda presence in the city centre at night.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, subsequently indicated he was looking at a number of measures to free up more gardaí for street patrols.
Just hours before Mr Kavanagh's death yesterday, detectives at Store Street Garda station had made a second appeal for witnesses to the attack on him on Tuesday night to come forward.
They would like to speak to four people. They include a teenager who spoke to a Dublin Bus inspector at 8.55 p.m. on Eden Quay to alert him to a fight.
A 6 ft man, described as being in his late 20s or early 30s and wearing a grey jacket, also spoke to a Dublin Bus inspector and pointed out a group of three people walking along Eden Quay towards O'Connell Street. Gardaí are particularly anxious to talk to these three people.
Detectives are also seeking two women, one of whom was middle aged and one in her late twenties or early thirties, who were in the area and boarded a number 50 bus to Tallaght and Citywest. They sat downstairs but it is not known if these women were in company together.
Eden Quay is usually crowded in the evenings with people waiting for buses to Dublin's suburbs, but a Dublin bus spokeswoman said there were only one or two buses on the quay at the time of the attack.
Gardaí have spoken to the Dublin Bus inspector who was notified by passers-by of the assault. "Gardaí have been down with our inspector who was at the scene at the time, going through his statement," the Dublin Bus spokeswoman said. "As people were walking past they told him of a scuffle or a fight further up".
Mr Kavanagh's remains have been removed to the City Morgue and a post-mortem is due to take place.
Gardaí have launched an investigation into what they term a serious assault leading to death.
They will await the results of the post-mortem examination before sending a file to the DPP.