Body of missing hillwalker found at bottom of Sligo cliff

THE BODY of a missing hillwalker was discovered at the bottom of a 500ft cliff in north Sligo yesterday, 24 hours after he was last seen by friends.

A search-and-rescue operation ended after the body of the Dublin-based Polish man was founded in the Gleniff Valley horseshoe, an area in north Sligo close to the Ben Whisken and Ben Bulben ranges which is popular with hillwalkers.

The man, who worked on a building site in Dublin, had travelled to Sligo with two friends for the bank holiday weekend.

The three had gone hillwalking on Monday, but the man opted to continue alone when his companions left the mountain at 4.30pm.

They alerted gardaí when he failed to return by 6pm, and a search by a Strandhill-based Coast Guard helicopter, Sligo/Leitrim and Donegal mountain rescue teams and some locals continued until his body was found yesterday afternoon.

Alan Sayers of the Sligo/Leitrim mountain rescue team said the man’s body was found at the bottom of a 500ft drop.

It was unclear whether the man had missed his footing or had become disorientated when darkness fell.

“It is a tragedy for his family, his friends and for the Polish community in Ireland,” said Mr Sayers.

It is understood the man, who was not being named pending notification of relatives, was married.

His family in Poland were being contacted by gardaí last night.

Throughout yesterday gardaí became increasingly concerned about the safety of the missing man who had been wearing light clothing because of the sunny weather over the bank holiday weekend.

It is understood he only had a small drink and a bar of chocolate with him on the climb.

The man had been carrying a mobile phone, which was not answering yesterday.

He had spoken to his friends once after separating from them, and did not appear to be having difficulties.

It is understood the missing man worked with one of his two friends on a Dublin building site.