LAST UPDATE | 8 Aug 2022

GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING if a small drug debt was the cause behind the murder of Sean McCarthy, whose body was discoved in Drumcondra over the weekend. 

McCarthy, 28, was found dead at an apartment on Achill Road in Drumcondra on Saturday evening.

His body was removed from the scene on Sunday afternoon.

A man in his 30s was arrested at the weekend and is still being detained at a Dublin garda station.

Ballymun gardaí are continuing to investigate all circumstances surrounding the man’s death. However, it is understood that McCarthy was murdered over a small drug debt. McCarthy himself was known to gardaí as being a low-level dealer operating out of Dublin’s northside. 

One focus of the investigation is that he may have been tricked into meeting the person he owed money to only to be shot dead. 

An official garda missing persons appeal had also been issued for McCarthy last week. His family had become worried that something had happened to him as he had not checked in on them, something he usually did. 

An incident room has been set up at Ballymun Garda Station and a murder investigation has begun under a senior investigating officer, gardaí said. 

A family liaison officer has also been appointed and continues to keep the family informed of this investigation.

The Drumcondra apartment where the body was discovered remains preserved for technical examination. It is thought McCarthy’s body had lay there for days before he was discovered.

Gardaí are appealing for people to come forward if they were travelling in the Home Farm Road area in Drumcondra or other nearby parts between the morning of Tuesday 2 August and the evening of Saturday 6 August and noticed any activity which drew their attention. 

Anyone with information that may assist in the investigation is asked to contact Ballymun Garda Station on 01 666 4400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.

With reporting by Orla Dwyer