DPP sent file on death of Clare student in caravan

A file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the death of a Co Clare student whose badly-charred…

A file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the death of a Co Clare student whose badly-charred body was found in a burnt-out caravan in south Galway six weeks ago.

Three people were arrested under Section 9 of the Offences Against the State Act by gardaí in Gort who are investigating the murder of Ennistymon woman Emer O'Loughlin (20) at Kinvara.

The two women and one man, all middle aged, were arrested for allegedly withholding information surrounding the circumstances of Ms O'Loughlin's death, but were released without charge.

Gardaí have also made an appeal to a man whose clothes were found on the Inis Mór shore two weeks after the fire to assist them with their inquiries.

Insp John Galvin said if this man came forward it was possible that he might eliminate himself from their inquiries.

He was last seen travelling to the Aran Islands a week after Ms O'Loughlin's death, and although a full-scale sea, air and land search was carried out no body was found. There has been no sighting of him since.

The body of Ms O'Loughlin, a student at the Galway Technical Institute, was found in the mobile home at Ballybornagh, between Kinvara and Tubber, on the Friday afternoon of April 8th.

There had been a fire at the mobile home, and gardaí are still appealing for witnesses to help them establish how and when the fire started.

A postmortem examination carried out on the woman's body failed to establish the exact cause of death.

It is thought that Ms O'Loughlin, who is estranged from her family, may have known her assailant, and may have been sexually assaulted.

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Michelle McDonagh

Michelle McDonagh

Michelle McDonagh, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about health and family