A 16-year-old boy has admitted killing 21-year-old Lorcan O’Reilly following a row at a Halloween bonfire night in Dublin.

He was due to stand trial for murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, and this was accepted by the DPP.

Lorcan O’Reilly died in hospital on November 1st last year after being stabbed in the chest and face.

The court heard he’d been at a Halloween bonfire party at the Oliver Bond flats in Dublin when a row broke out between him and the boy.

Witnesses said he was mouthing off and going around saying: “You don’t know who I am. You don’t know who my father is” and that Mr. O’Reilly told him he didn’t care and that he wouldn’t let a 14-year-old talk to him like that.

Detective Inspector Paul Cleary said the boy left after Mr. O’Reilly took a hurley off him, but that he returned with a knife.

A CCTV camera caught the fatal stab to the chest but Gardaí weren’t able to identify the boy from the footage. A number of witnesses later come forward to give evidence against him and an early trial was requested for their safety

The boy was charged with murder, but his plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter was accepted this afternoon.

His sentence hearing will continue on February 6th.