Tragic dad of two John Pender had been looking forward to his trip to Spain for weeks before his fatal stabbing.
The acupuncturist and charity worker, 53, from Shankhill in County Dublin had been "looking forward" to the trip to Fuengirola "for weeks" with his wife Caroline McGuigan, founder of Suicide Or Survive, and their two children Conor, 21, and Amy, 18.
A neighbour who has lived next to the Pender family for the past 17 years told Dublin Live: "He said to me before he left, 'We'll have great craic with the kids now that they are a bit older.' He couldn't wait, they were his pride and joy.
"They are in an awful state, so are the rest of us, I can't believe it. Everyone is shell-shocked."
John had been out with his wife and their two best friends at Pogs Old Irish Rock Pub when he was stabbed by a British man with a broken bottle in the neck in the men's toilets in the early hours of Friday morning.
Friends of the couple also took to social media to pay their tributes to the family man for their "devastating loss".
One wrote, "My mind can't actually phantom the news, heartbroken for you all."
Another added, "So sorry you have to go through this, my heart is breaking for you."
In a Irish Times article in 2016 about SOS, Caroline described John as her "soulmate" and said she loved nothing more than being in with him "on a Friday night having tapas, a gin and tonic and a good old chat."
