A father-of-one who was attacked and stabbed while on his way home in Dundalk had recently received information that there was an active threat on his life.

Conor Gartland (27), from Aisling Park, Dundalk, suffered a punctured lung after he was stabbed multiple times in the back during a struggle at 10.20pm on Monday.

He was found shortly afterwards lying on the footpath at the junction of Aisling Park and Oakland Park on the outskirts of the Co Louth town, bleeding heavily and drifting in and out of consciousness.

Gartland was rushed by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. He remained there yesterday.

Gartland’s family home is across the road from where the attack took place.

He had just left it to walk to his current address where he lives with his partner and young baby, and gardai are trying to find out if his attackers were lying in wait for him.

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‘He was struggling to breathe’ – Man rushed to hospital after Dundalk knife attack

Local sources said a threat was made against him in recent months. “He and others have had threats made against them by people who say they are in the New IRA in the last two months,” one source said.

“Maybe it has something to do with that, or maybe it’s something different.”

The threats are believed to stem from a local dispute.

A definite motive for the attack is not yet known.

Locals said they heard an altercation and then saw Gartland lying on the footpath.

“His clothes were soaked in blood and he was struggling to breathe,” one told the Herald.

“Gardai were searching the locals bins afterwards hoping to find the weapon.”

Bloodstains and discarded medical equipment could be seen on the footpath yesterday.

Gartland is known to gardai in Dundalk. In 2012 he was jailed for five years at Dundalk Circuit Court for his role in two violent crimes, including a robbery in which staff were threatened with an imitation firearm.

During his trial the court heard that he was one of a group of youths who robbed a man on May 6, 2010.

Gardai said the victim had got into conversation with a number of individuals. After a few minutes, one of them grabbed him from behind, put a knife to his throat and demanded money. They made off with €70.

The court was told that the victim named Gartland as the person who attacked him.

When arrested, he denied holding a knife at any stage.

Gartland pleaded guilty to taking part in an attempted robbery at Sloane’s Newsagents on Avenue Road, Dundalk, on August 12 2011, in which an imitation firearm was used.

The court heard that two men went into the shop, and staff saw what appeared to be a handgun in one of their hands.

The men started pulling at the till, but when they couldn’t get it open they fled.

Gardai found Gartland hiding in shrubbery. He had black gloves and a balaclava with him. They also uncovered an imitation handgun. After his arrest Gartland admitted his involvement, telling gardai he needed money for drugs.

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