Two remain in custody after man’s death in Co Westmeath

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Two men remain in Garda custody following the death of a man in Co Westmeath at the weekend.

Two men, in their 30s and late teens, are being detained under suspicion of assault, at Athlone Garda station.

Gardaí are continuing to investigate a public order incident which took place in the early hours of Saturday.

Paul “Babs” Connolly, 47, was found with serious injuries at Church Street in Athlone at about 2.35am on Saturday. He was taken to Portiuncula University Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

An Garda Síochána have appealed for any video footage relating to the incident to be made available to them, but also asked that such footage not be shared on social media.

They said in a statement: “An Garda Siochana appeals to everybody not to share this material, it is disrespectful and upsetting to the family and friends of the deceased and all persons involved in this incident and is unhelpful to the Garda investigation.”

Gardaí appealed for people to come forward who may have been at the taxi rank waiting area on Church Street in Athlone between 2.15am and 3am on Saturday, and anyone who may have provided assistance to Mr Connolly.

Gardaí want to identify the owners of vehicles parked in the area and drivers who travelled through Church Street between 2.15am and 3am who may have witnessed the incident.

Anyone with video footage or dash-cam footage is asked to make this available.

A postmortem examination has been completed, gardaí said, the results of which are not being released for operational reasons.