Father and son arrested in connection with stabbing of two brothers in west Cork family dispute

Gardaí are continuing to question two members of a west Cork family, following a serious assault on two other members of the family in a long-running dispute over an inheritance and access to property.

The incident happened at an outside farm belonging to the family, located some four kilometres from Dunmanway, at around 7pm on Saturday evening, when three brothers in their 30s, got involved in a row.

It is understood the background to the row centres on the inheritance of the farmhouse and yard in a will made by the father of the family, which bequeaths the farmhouse to two sons and the adjacent yard and sheds to all three sons.

It is also understood the will led to a dispute between two sons on one side, and the other son on the other. One side padlocked a gate to the yard and sheds, only for the other side to use an angle grinder to cut the lock and gain access.

According to Garda sources, matters escalated on Saturday evening, when one side attacked the other as they attempted to cut a padlock on a gate to the property, with one of the sons stabbing his two brothers with a knife.

One of the injured parties suffered a severed artery and had to be airlifted by helicopter to Cork University Hospital (CUH), while the other injured party suffered a punctured lung and was removed to CUH by ambulance.

Both injured parties underwent emergency surgery at CUH on Saturday night. While both are still in a serious condition, Garda sources say that they are in a stable condition on Sunday morning and are out of danger.

Gardaí had been alerted to the incident, and they arrested one of the sons, as well as his father, in his 70s, at the scene for questioning about the attack. Both were brought to Bandon Garda station to be interviewed by detectives.

Both men were arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows gardaí to detain suspects for up to 24 hours before they have to be charged or released. Questioning was suspended overnight and will resume today.

Gardaí sealed off the scene of the attack at the farmyard and a Garda team have begun a technical examination of the area. They have also recovered a knife, which will be sent for forensic examination.