Detectives were last night questioning a man about the murder of a woman, aged in her twenties, whose body was found in a derelict house in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
The woman's body was discovered yesterday afternoon in the dilapidated house on Pembroke Road opposite the United States embassy. It is understood her throat cut had been cut.
A man is understood to have gone voluntarily to Donnybrook Garda Station during the afternoon. He was taken into custody and was being held for questioning.
It is understood he and the woman had been living rough in the city centre and spent some time recently living in the house.
Gardaí said it seemed the house was being used by a number of homeless people who gained access through a laneway to the rear. The rear garden is covered with rubbish and debris and gardaí described the inside of the house as squalid.
After the discovery the deputy State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy went to the scene and examined the body in situ.
The body of the woman, who was described as being in her mid- 20s and from Galway, was found in an upstairs room of the boarded-up house on Pembroke Road, shortly before 3 p.m.
The discovery was made by the dead woman's boyfriend who immediately alerted a garda on duty at the US embassy. Access to the rear of the house is possible through a laneway serving a block of flats on Shelbourne Road.
Last night, staff at the Bridge restaurant on Shelbourne Road told gardaí of suspicious activity in the house on Thursday.
A member of staff visiting a store room at the rear of the restaurant, which adjoins the boarded-up house, is understood to have told gardaí he saw some men and a woman lurking in the bushes at the back of the house. However, gardaí discounted local speculation that the woman was murdered on Thursday.
It is also understood that the occupants of the house were known to the gardaí, who had the house on a list of regular squats.
When found the woman had injuries to her throat but no other obvious injuries.
Gardaí removed video tapes from security cameras on a number of premises on Shelbourne Road, and took samples from a number of stains on stonework in the laneway. They also cordoned off a grass area outside the Herbert Park Hotel, where an object was found. It was not, however, thought to be the murder weapon.
• A body taken from the sea near Ballyglass, Co Mayo yesterday evening is believed to be that of a mushroom worker from Latvia who went missing while fishing about two months ago.