A dad has brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight during a vicious street fight.

The man, named as Karl Holmes, was attacked in Tallaght, Dublin, at around 5.30pm on Thursday.

Mr Holmes was fatally wounded when a fight broke out outside houses at Avonbeg Gardens.

It is understood a number of people were involved in the row and that he received several blows as the fracas escalated.

Emergency services brought him to Tallaght Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

No arrests have yet been made and gardai are now investigating the suspected murder.

A source told the Irish Mirror : “Holmes would have been well-known to the gardai. He did prison time in his youth.

“He was jailed for assaulting a man in Tallaght in the 1990s.

“There was serious controversy over it because the man, his victim, died.

“And everyone thought Karl should have been charged with murder.

“He was released quite a few years ago and he seemed to stay out of trouble.

“But he would have been well-known in the area, and he may have got involved with the wrong crowd.”

Mr Holmes is believed to have been the father of at least one young daughter.

The scene of the incident was preserved for forensic analysis.

State Pathologist Marie Cassidy was notified and a postmortem is expected to take place today.

Local councillor Brendan Ferron said the death was a tragedy for the community.

He added: “The area where the incident happened is very, very quiet. It’s a very settled area. For something like this to happen is very unusual.

“There are lot of elderly people living in that area.

“The whole community is very shocked.”

Gardai have appealed for anyone with information to contact the incident room at Tallaght Garda station on 01 666 6000 or call the garda Confidential Line on 1 800 666 111.