DNA helped to ID washed-up body

THE identity of a body washed up on a beach in 2007 was only discovered last year thanks to a major advancement in DNA technology, an inquest has heard.

The remains of Joe Reilly, 50, Hatch Street, Dublin, were washed onto Rockmarshall beach in north Co. Louth 11 years ago. The cause of Mr Reilly’s death could not be determined. His brother Dermott told the inquest, ‘my instinct is that he fell into the sea in and around Dublin and was washed up’. Mr Reilly’s remains have since been interred in Cavan.