Inquiry as freed prisoner found dead
AN INVESTIGATION is under way into the death of a man who had just been released from prison.
The remains were found by a member of the public at around 1.50am yesterday in a multi-storey car park opposite Brooks Hotel on Drury Street, Dublin.
With the deaths of five people known to homeless services in Dublin in recent weeks, there were concerns this man could be the sixth homeless person to die in the capital in little over a week.
The body was removed from the scene and taken to the morgue for a post-mortem examination.
Security sources say the man, who was from Dundalk in Co. Louth and aged in his 20s, had just been freed from prison on temporary release and was not homeless.
He also was not a drug user, it is understood. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive said the man was not known to homelessness services in Dublin, and had never accessed emergency accommodation there.
There is no foul play suspected in the young man’s death.
The area was sealed off by gardaí, who are investigating the grim discovery and preparing a file for the Coroner’s Court.
In Cork, the homelessness situation is also a cause for concern, with four deaths of rough sleepers reported in the past fortnight.
Two men, from Afghanistan and Lithuania, and a local woman were all discovered dead over three days, while another woman’s body was discovered yesterday.
Peter McVerry Trust CEO Pat Doyle yesterday appealed to the Government to address the crisis.
He said it was imperative the Government address the numbers requiring access to homelessness services as the country recovers from the pandemic.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone with information in relation to the latest death at Drury Street to contact them on the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.