Teen arrested for questioning over death of Irish Rail worker Ian Walsh

Olivia Kelleher

A teenager has been arrested for questioning in connection with the murder of Irish Rail employee Ian Walsh, who was found dead at his home in Co Tipperary on August 4th.

The young man is being detained at Clonmel Garda Station after being arrested on Wednesday in connection with the murder of the 49-year-old.

He can be detained for up to 24 hours before being released or charged.

Mr Walsh was found with stab wounds in a downstairs room at his home in Ravenswood Estate on Cregg Road in Carrick-on-Suir.

There was no sign of forced entry at the property. It is understood that gardai believe that whoever murdered Mr Walsh was known to him and that he possibly admitted his killer to the house.

A postmortem by State pathologist Dr Yvonne McCartney confirmed Mr Walsh died by violent means.

Mr Walsh was last seen alive on the evening of August 1st.

A cremation service took place on August 12th in the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork.

In a statement, Irish Rail said Mr Walsh was a well-known and popular colleague both in his working life from catering to signalling, and for his passion for railway and transport tourism and heritage.

Táilte Tours team said they felt extreme sadness at the passing of Ian Walsh, a “signaller at Cork station and a huge supporter” of their rail tour operation.

“Ian ran five rail tours of his own over the course of the mid to late 2000s, and was very much a pioneer in 'outside the box' tours in Ireland, starting them from locations such as Waterford and Limerick, in an era when tours were generally based in Dublin or Belfast.

“He was more than happy to pass his experience and expertise on when we started operations a few years ago; for those of you who enjoyed the 'surprise' rare track moves on our Cork-based railtours, you can thank Ian, who went far beyond the extra mile to ensure our operations went off without a hitch.

“He had a wonderful knowledge of the Iarnród Éireann system and its people, and had also developed a passion for Bus Éireann operations, diligently recording the last runs on several rural routes in the south east as they disappeared, quickly becoming a friend to bus drivers in the Cork and Waterford areas.”