A man in his 30s remains in custody following a stabbing incident in which a woman died and her husband was seriously injured.
The woman was named locally as Annie Heyneman (née McLoughlin) and her husband is Henk Heyneman, who is Dutch.
The incident occurred on Saturday night at approximately 9.30pm at the couple’s home in Kilnavert, 7km outside Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.
Ms Heyneman was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was taken to Cavan General Hospital for a postmortem.
Mr Heyneman is in the same hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Gardaí have begun a murder investigation.
The suspect, who was arrested at a chip shop in Ballyconnell at about 9.40pm on Saturday, is well known to the couple.
He walked into the Big Bite chip shop in the town and asked the owner, Arshad Qayyaum, to call the gardaí and an ambulance. He was bleeding heavily from his left hand and blood was still on the floor of the chipper on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Qayyaum, a Pakistani national who has owned the shop since 2018, said the suspect was a regular customer.
Mr Qayyaum put his mobile phone on speaker so the suspect could speak to gardaí. The suspect told gardaí he had been involved in an argument.
“He said: ‘Can you send two ambulances and I need a garda as well’,” Mr Qayyaum told The Irish Times.
“He was very upset and nervous. At that time, I didn’t know what happened. A short time afterwards gardaí came along and put cuffs on him. He was crying inside the van and not saying anything. He didn’t put up any resistance. I was very shocked about what happened.”
Brendan Smith, a local Fianna Fáil TD, said the community is in complete shock.
"I know the community very well, it is my home parish, and everybody is shocked. The family are in our upper most prayers and thoughts."
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to come forward.
Anyone who travelled in the area of Kilnavert, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, on Saturday between 8.30pm and 9.30pm is asked to provide any available camera footage.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cavan Garda station on (049) 436 8800, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
The scene has been preserved for technical examination by gardaí.
