Body found in search for missing hiker

The body of a man found in the Wicklow mountains yesterday afternoon is believed to be that of a 74-year-old man who went missing on Saturday.

The body was taken by ambulance to St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown yesterday afternoon.

It was found during a search for the missing hillwalker, who was thought to be from the Loughlinstown area of Dublin.

A Garda spokesman said an official identification would probably be made this morning. If a post-mortem was necessary, it would be carried out then, he said. Until then, gardaí could not confirm the man's identity, he said.

The body was found sometime after 2 p.m. close to a river about a mile from where the man's hike was thought to have begun. He had gone walking in the Aughavannagh area of the Wicklow mountains on Saturday morning.

The man was described as an experienced hillwalker and it is understood that he had told his family of his planned itinerary.

He was expected to return on Saturday evening and when he didn't arrive home, the alarm was raised.

Up to 200 people were involved in the search, including members of the Dublin-Wicklow mountain rescue team, the Glen of Imaal mountain rescue unit, Civil Defence and a search-and-rescue dog unit.

A Coast Guard helicopter searched the Wicklow Mountains yesterday morning but with no success.

The Mountaineering Council of Ireland expressed its sympathies to the man's family last night.

The 132-kilometre (82 miles) Wicklow Way is one of the most popular hillwalking routes in the State, offering hikers easy access from Dublin to the Wicklow mountains. It starts in Marlay Park in the south Dublin suburbs and runs south through Co Wicklow as far as Clonegal in Co Carlow, where it ends in farmland.

The route is clearly way-marked with wooden posts topped by yellow arrows at all junctions. It climbs high at times, but also descends into forested glens. Some parts are boggy, while other sections are on hard roads and tracks.

Viewpoints along the way provide glorious views, some as far as the Mourne Mountains and Snowdonia.