GARDAÍ ARE trying to establish the identity of human remains found in the River Liffey, Dublin, when work was being carried out preparing for the installation of the new Samuel Beckett Bridge.
Garda sources said the dead man was wearing odd shoes and had been using a piece of twine as a belt. They are working on the theory that the deceased was homeless.
The remains of the man were disturbed by dredging work for the new bridge last week.
When the waters and river bed were disturbed last Wednesday, May 14th, the body floated to the surface at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay on the Liffey’s south bank.
The discovery was made the day after the bridge was brought by barge from Dublin Port to Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.
It arrived on a barge into Dublin Port on the morning of Monday May 11th, having charted its way from Rotterdam, across the English Channel and Irish Sea in a week-long journey.
The remains were in a badly decomposed state when taken from the water and gardaí believe the body had been submerged for up to six months.
A postmortem was carried out on Wednesday and has found no evidence the man had any injuries consistent with being attacked. The Irish Timesunderstands the dead man died from drowning.
Garda sources said because the remains had been in the water for so long the deceased could not be identified through dental records or fingerprints.
The state of decomposition has also made it difficult for gardaí to determine the man’s height or age.
Anyone who believes they know who the dead man is is asked to contact gardaí at Store St on (01) 666 8000.