Gardaí were last night continuing to question a 27-year-old man in relation to the death of a man in Wexford town in the early hours of Monday morning.
The 48-year-old man, living in Wexford for a short period, but originally from Dublin, was found dead at the foot of the stairs leading to his apartment, over a business premises on Selskar Street in the town at approximately 1.30am.
On visiting the scene along with the emergency services, detectives arrested a man, who was detained at Wexford Garda station for questioning.
The man, who was found with a broken neck at the foot of the stairs, was staying in the flat with another man at the time of the incident.
He was found in a crouched position on the floor beneath the stairs when gardaí and the emergency services visited the apartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
It is not yet known if the man fell down the stairs or was pushed prior to his death.
The scene was cordoned off by gardaí while it was being forensically examined yesterday. Dr Michael Curtis, Assistant State Pathologist, visited the scene yesterday afternoon where he carried out a preliminary examination, before the body was removed to the State Pathologist Facility in Marino in Dublin where a postmortem will be carried out. Locals were unaware of the extent of the tragedy until yesterday forenoon when a garda was seen on point duty at the scene. On hearing of the tragedy they expressed their shock at the death.
One local woman said: "I did not know who lived in the apartment. People come and go here frequently, but I would not know them. Most of them would be new to the town, they could be foreign nationals or people from other areas of the country. Still it's a shock to hear of such a tragic death."
Supt John Roche who is heading the inquiry said: "A 27-year-old man has been arrested and detained for questioning."