Gardaí in Arklow, Co Wicklow, confirmed yesterday evening that the body taken out of the water in the town's harbour on Thursday was that of a 31-year-old north African man who had been missing since the day he was due to be married earlier this month.
At around 8.25pm on Thursday, local fishermen spotted the body of Said Belhassani, originally from Algeria, floating in the sea at the mouth of the harbour. A lifeboat was launched and the body, which was fully clothed, was recovered and taken to Loughlinstown hospital, Co Dublin, where a post-mortem was carried out.
Gardaí were last night awaiting results of the examination. It is thought unlikely that a criminal investigation will be launched as foul play is not suspected.
Mr Belhassani went missing on May 7th, just hours before he was due to marry Dublin-born Donna Marie Mooney in an Arklow church.
The couple had been living together in the Co Wicklow town for three years and Mr Belhassani was the father of two of Ms Mooney's three children, Keane (2) and 11-month-old Rachid. He had been living in Ireland for 10 years.
The man left a local pub, Oscar's Bar, after his stag party and was last seen heading in the direction of the 19 Arches Bridge in Arklow on his way home in the early hours of the morning.
It is thought that he was not used to drinking but did have several drinks on the night of his disappearance.
The alarm was raised the following morning when Mr Belhassani did not show up for the wedding.
Despite his disappearance, Ms Mooney (22) went ahead with a gathering for friends and relatives in place of the wedding reception, which had been booked in the Arklow Bay Hotel, despite her fears that her fiance might be dead.
"He was in great form the previous night. I met him in the pub earlier and he kept telling everyone how he couldn't wait for the wedding," she said.