GARDAÍ ARE investigating two deaths, one in Kilkenny and one in Co Cavan, the latter the death of a prisoner in the Loughan House detention centre.
Gardaí in Kilkenny are investigating the discovery of a body of a young man found face down in less than a foot of water shortly before 5pm yesterday in the river Breagagh at the rear of a popular beer garden on Parliament Street. Staff noticed the body earlier in the day but believed it to be a dummy. At about 5pm a customer went to the river's edge and saw that it was in fact the remains of a man believed to be in his 20s.
Gardaí and the fire service were then called and a technical examination of the scene took place. A Garda spokesman said that it was too early to comment on whether or not it was a suspicious death.
The body, which has yet to be formally identified, was brought to St Luke's Hospital where a postmortem will take place.
Separately, a prisoner thought to be in his mid-30s was found dead in his cell yesterday morning at Loughan House open prison, at Blacklion, Co Cavan.
A postmortem examination was carried out at Cavan General Hospital by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis. The Prison Service has ruled out foul play but a spokesman said the death will be the subject of a Garda investigation as is standard with all such incidents. Loughan House is a low-security open detention centre run by the Irish Prison Service. It was built in 1953 for the White Fathers Missionary Congregation.
It was purchased by the Department of Justice in 1972 to be converted for use as a prison facility.
The centre has an operational capacity of 85 adult male inmates who have been deemed suitable for residency in an open centre.