Gardaí investigating the death of a man following an assault in a Co Wicklow village last night have today appealed for witnesses.
Brian Doyle, a 48-year-old single man, was found lying on the main street in Avoca, Co Wicklow, outside Fitzgerald’s pub at around 9pm.
It is understood that the deceased suffered a punch to the head during a row that broke out shortly before 9pm. Mr Doyle's body was found by a member of the public shortly afterwards.
Supt Pat Ward from Arklow Garda station appealed to anybody who was in the pub from 3pm yesterday to come forward.
“The body was discovered at around 9pm and we know that previous to that the man had been assaulted,” he said.
“The emergency services attempted to resuscitate the man but all attempts failed and regrettably the man was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 9.45pm.
“We’re anxious to talk to anybody who was in Fitzgerald’s pub from about 3pm onwards until about 10.30pm who might have any information on any incident either inside or outside the pub.
"We’ve spoken to a number of people in the pub but we know that there are others that we haven’t yet spoken to, we’re anxious to speak to those," Supt Ward said.
“Rest assured that the gardaí are committing full resources to this investigation, and we will do everything to bring it to an early conclusion. We can assure the public that no effort will be spared in doing that.”
Gardaí are also asking for the occupants of any car that travelled through the village around the time of the incident to contact them.
It is believed the dispute may have broken out in the wake of the Liverpool v Everton match broadcast in the pub yesterday.
Dr Khalid Jabbar, the Deputy State Pathologist, carried out a preliminary examination of the body just before lunch time. Mr Doyle’s remains were later removed for a full postmortem.
Access to Avoca village was restricted today.
Fitzgerald's pub featured in the BBC television series Ballykissangel.