The Department of Foreign Affairs last night confirmed that it is working to speed up the repatriation of the body of a 33-year-old Irish woman found dead on a beach on the Spanish island of Majorca.
Jean Reilly, originally from Drogheda, Co Louth, was found dead by a fisherman on a rocky part of beach near Palma in Majorca last Tuesday.
Only days earlier Ms Reilly, who had been living and working in Majorca for a number of years,contacted her family in an agitated state and fearing for her safety.
Police in Spain did not find the passport or money she may have been carrying at the time of her death.
Marks were discovered on Ms Reilly's body, but it is not yet known how severe her injuries were or how she died.
Tests have revealed that no alcohol or drugs were in her system at the time of death.
Following an anxious call to her family on Saturday, August 26th, Ms Reilly attempted to book a return flight to Ireland. With all immediate flights booked out, she went on standby for an Iberia Airlines flight to Dublin, which was due to depart Spain last Tuesday.
When Ms Reilly failed to return home last Tuesday as arranged, her family reported her missing. It was on that Tuesday night that Ms Reilly's body was discovered. Since then her family have travelled to Majorca but Ms Reilly's body has not yet been released by Spanish police, who are trying to determine if an investigation is required and what form it might take.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it had been informed of Ms Reilly's death on Wednesday last. The department has since liaised with the Spanish authorities and offered assistance to the Reilly family.
The spokeswoman confirmed that Spanish police had not yet decided whether to launch an investigation into Ms Reilly's death.
She said there can often be very long delays in having a body released from Spain depending on the circumstances of the death and the type of investigation required.
In some instances it has taken up to one year to have a body repatriated to Ireland.
Where a criminal investigation and prosecution are instigated, a body may be held as evidence until a case is resolved, she added