A postmortem has been carried out on the body of model Katy French, who died in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, yesterday evening.
The results of the examination, along with toxicology tests, are expected to shed light on how the 24-year-old died.
But gardaí said they would not release the results of the postmortem at this stage of their investigation.
It is understood that members of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Garda National Drugs Unit are assisting in the inquiry which is being led by Supt Michael Devine.
The Garda Síochána, which had confirmed earlier yesterday that it was making "preliminary inquiries" into the circumstances surrounding Ms French's hospitalisation and was liaising with her family, said these inquiries would continue following her death.
It is understood the results of the postmortem will determine the nature of a Garda investigation into Ms French's death.
Ms French was well known for her outspoken views on issues such as abortion and cocaine use, having admitted in a recent interview to having taken the drug.
She also came to prominence after taking part in RTÉ's recent Celebrities Go Wildprogramme.
She was born in Switzerland, but her family moved to Ireland when she was a child and settled in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. After completing her school education, she had planned to graduate with a psychology qualification, but instead chose a career in modelling.
Hundreds of people began posting messages of sympathy on websites dedicated to Ms French today.
Four seperate sites have been set up on
Bebo attracting more than 2000 members posting comments about the popular model.
Ms French was represented by Assets Models which today had her picture on its homepage saying Katy would always be in their thoughts.
"She will be sadly missed by all of her colleagues and the management team of Assets Model Agency, our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends at this sad time," a brief quote on the webiste said.
A spokeswoman for the HSE last night refused to say what had caused Ms French's death, but confirmed that the Coroner's Office has been notified.