Family Of The Dundalk Murder Victim Express Gratitude At “Kindness” Of The Irish People

Over 1,000 people have attended a candlelight vigil in Dundalk this evening in memory of Yosuke Sasaki who died in the town last week.

The 24-year-old was on his way to work on Wednesday morning when he was stabbed to death on Avenue Road.

During tonight's solemn ceremony, a statement from Mr. Sasaki's family was read out in which they expressed their gratitude to the Irish people. They added that they hoped last week's tragedy wouldn't give Japanese people a bad impression of Ireland.

It statement said:

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the kindness the people of Ireland have shown.

"When he was alive, our son spoke about the warmth of the people of this town and his love of Dundalk.

"He came to Ireland initially as a language student and only intended a short stay. However, he was touched by the kindness of the Irish people and he decided to work here.

"As a family, we are truly saddened by what has happened, but we hope that this incident will not give Japanese people a bad impression of Ireland.

"Finally, we hope that a tragic event like this one will never happen in this country again."

The family of Yosuke Sasaki, who was murdered in Dundalk, have issued a statement saying they hope the incident doesn't give Japanese people a bad impression of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/Wci9CcKYaJ
— Kevin Doyle (@KevDoyle_Indo) January 8, 2018

Tonight's vigil was attended by Yosuke's work friends as well as Mari Miyoshi, the Japanese Ambassador to Ireland.