The victim of a fatal assault in Portlaw, Co Waterford has been described as a well-known and liked gentleman.
The man aged 48 died following a row at a house on Brown Street in the town in the early hours of this morning.
The row broke out between the deceased and a 21 year old man, who was known to him.
The older man suffered a serious injury to the head and he was rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford.
However, he was pronounced dead just before 4am.
The scene of the fatal assault on Brown Street, Portlaw. Photo Credit: Eoghan Dalton
Gardaí arrested a 21 year old man at the scene of the assault and he is being questioned at Tramore Garda Station.
He's being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows officers to detain suspects for 24 hours.
The services of the State Pathologist's Office have been requested and a post-mortem examination is expected to take place tomorrow.
Local Sinn Féin Councillor Declan Clune says the victim was a popular man:
"The first thing is to say condolences to the family and everyone involved. It's a very, very tragic event. Nice gentleman, always out walking his dogs. Just a genuinely nice person; that's what adds to the whole tragedy of the situation. It's just an awful thing to happen at any time, but particularly to the family at the start of the New Year."
Bernie Brophy, who runs a salon on Brown Street, says she knew the victim well:
"It's a terrible tragedy what happened to the poor man. I knew him well; he used to come and get his hair cut with me and he was a lovely gentleman. Never put in or out on anybody; walked his dogs, and he worked down in the Martin Day Care Centre here and all the women liked him, he was very kind to them."
