LAST UPDATE | 5 Apr 2023

GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING THE violent death of a woman in Limerick yesterday have said that they are treating the incident as a murder and that a post-mortem has taken place.

The woman’s body was discovered inside an apartment block on Dock Road, just off O’Curry Street, around 1.30pm yesterday.

Gardaí are looking to trace a man seen entering a shop with a bandaged hand before washing his hands in the store.

Staff at the shop have been interviewed and a number of items from the premises, which is situated close to the scene of the fatal assault on the woman, were removed by Gardaí.

The man entered the shop with one of his hands wrapped in a makeshift bandage before washing his hands and leaving the premises again with his hand wrapped up in the makeshift bandage.

Gardai were anxious to speak to the man in order to be able to rule him in or out of their enquiries.

Detectives now believe she was stabbed a short time after the arrival of the suspect at the apartment. 

Gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry and have carried out searches based on this – they believe the suspect is a man who was staying at a property in Limerick city. 

The investigation was upgraded to a murder inquiry following a post-mortem on the victim’s body by State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan.

Gardai said the results of the autopsy were not being disclosed “for operational reasons.”

It’s understood that the woman was from Romania. 

Derrick Amrein, owner of Chizel & Oak, O’Curry Street, Limerick City, said he alerted emergency services after he was asked for help by two people who ran from the building where the body was discovered, yesterday.

Amrein said: “About 1pm yesterday a man and a woman in pyjamas approached and asked to ring the emergency services and said there was a stabbing in their apartment block just around the corner.”

“I rang Henry Street and said they needed to send ambulances as we had been informed a lady was ‘bleeding out’ in the apartment.”

“The gardai and the ambulances came very quickly, so the emergency services were superb at the speed they came, they cordoned off the area and took over and then I heard later on that (the woman) passed away.”

“It’s a very tight-knit old community and we are all in shock, we are frazzled by the whole thing and everyone is expressing their anguish at what happened.”

“It’ll take time for the community to recover. The gardai have been here all morning searching bins and all the (garda) forensics have been here working right throughout the night, they are doing a great job.”

Amrein said he was praying the victim’s body “gets back to whatever country she is from” so her family can lay her to rest.

“It is very sad for the parents, any father or mother losing a child at any age is horrendous, so all our thoughts are with them.”

Local reaction

Prayers were being said for the victim at the Redemptorist church, located a few streets away.

Fr Seamus Enright, Rector of the religious order in Limerick said: “We are horrified that such violence has come to our own community.”

“We remember the young woman in our prayers and all those who are grieving for her, and we will be pray for her especially at mass this evening and tomorrow,” said Fr Enright.

“A death like this reminds us of how precious life is and how we must do everything we possibly can to protect and enhance life – and I’d appeal to anybody with information to cooperate with An Garda Siochana,” Fr Enright added.

Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea said: “It’s an unspeakable tragedy, death by violence is always a terrible tragedy, but it’s definitely worse when the person is young, in their 20s, with their whole life in front of them.”

“Limerick has come an awful long way from the bad old days of gang crime, and constant stabbings and assaults and murders, and we want to see Limerick continue to go forward,” said Deputy O’Dea.

“There is a lot of cameras around the area so there could be some information available (to Gardai), so I would ask the public to cooperate fully to make sure there is a successful prosecution for this horrific crime,” O’Dea added.

Appealing for witnesses, a garda spokesman asked that “anyone who has camera footage from the Dock Road and O’Curry street areas of Limerick City from 1:00pm – 2:00pm” would contact investigating gardai at Henry Street Garda Station on 061 212 400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station”.

With additional reporting from Niall O’Connor.