'It is a huge pain' - Friends of man murdered in Kildare pay tribute amid fundraiser

Friends of the man stabbed to death at a house in Sallins, Co Kildare last Sunday have established a fundraiser to repatriate his body back home to Moldova.

Ion Daghi (39) died after sutaining stab wounds in a confrontation at a house in Sallins in the early hours of Sunday morning, May 12.

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a man in Sallins.

Valeriu Melnic, 23, whose address was given as Calliaghstown Lower, Rathcoole, County Dublin, faces an allegation of murdering Ion Daghi, on May 12 at The Close, Sallins Park. He appeared in court on Monday.

Meanwhile, friends of Ion have launched the fundraiser. A GoFundMe page post states: "Hi my name is Olga and I’m fundraising for the repatriation of Ion who was fatally stabbed on the night of 12.05.24.

"I am their family friend. I’m fundraising for Anghelina Spinu, his wife, mother of three children, for help with cost of repatriation. Money go straight to her account because I indicated all her bank details," it continued.

Olga's tribute read: "He left behind three children, his wife and parents who don't know how to live on. It is a huge pain for the family. Now the family needs our help to be able to repatriation [sic], please help as much as you can."

Almost €6,000 of a €7,000 target has been raised to far.

The accused man, Valeriu Melnic, appeared before a special sitting of Naas District Court shortly before midnight on May 13.

Detective Garda Enda Coleman told of charging the defendant, who made no reply.

He said it will be alleged the incident arose at a small family gathering attended by five adults and three children.

Some went to bed and a dispute arose between the defendant and the deceased, who drank a lot of whiskey.

This turned physical, but calmed down before reigniting at about 3am.

He said it will be alleged that the defendant went to the kitchen and took a knife.

The deceased went to the kitchen where an altercation took place and it will be claimed the deceased was stabbed once in the chest with the knife, which is 30 centimetres in length.

The defendant is the brother-in-law of the deceased

Det Gda Coleman told Judge Desmond Zaidan that the argument was about nothing of substance and it escalated.

The deceased’s 12-year-old daughter called the emergency services.

The defendant was granted free legal aid and this was extended to cover the services of a Russian translator.

The defendant was remanded in custody to appear again on May 16 by videolink.

At the request of defending solicitor Cairbre Finan, the judge also ordered a psychological report.