Qayyum Balogun (21), who was fatally stabbed in the Grafton Street area of Dublin in the early hours of Monday, was a “gentle soul” who rarely socialised at night.
The trip to Dublin he and his sister Aliyah (20) planned, to see Nigerian singer-songwriter Famous Pluto on the June bank holiday weekend, was to be an exciting adventure.
The siblings, who spent most of their lives in Dundalk, finished their summer exams at Maynooth University the previous Friday. Qayyum was in his third year of a computer science degree. Aliyah studies psychology.
The Sunday night gig at Bewley’s cafe on Grafton Street would not end until after 2am, and there was hope of attending an after-show party, so the siblings booked a hotel in the capital.
Qayyum lived in the Ecco Road area of Dundalk with his father Ibrahim, his stepmother Loveth Patrick, brother Ganiyu (15) and sisters Alimat (17) and Tolu (12). The children’s mother, Teslimot Balogun, lives nearby in Dundalk with Aliyah.
