Man lay dead in his Knocknacarra apartment for five months

THE body of a man discovered in a Galway City apartment earlier this month could have lain there for up to five months, the Gardaí have confirmed.

The body of the 58-year-old man was found at his home in Leitir Burca, Knocknacarra, two weeks ago – no foul play is suspected.

The alarm was only raised after neighbours became concerned and notified the Gardaí who forced their way into the residence on September 10.

Inside, they found the badly decomposed body of a 58-year-old French national – the scene was initially cordoned off to allow for a forensic examination of the scene, while a post mortem examination was also carried out.

However, a Garda spokesman confirmed that there is nothing suspicious into the circumstances of the man’s death – he is thought to have died from natural causes.

Since then, Gardaí have identified the man, who lived alone, but his name hasn’t been released as they are still trying to contact all relatives of the deceased.

Interment has been postponed until all next of kin have been contacted with Gardaí hopeful that this process can be completed over the coming week or so.

Local councillor, Donal Lyons, said that the death of the man for such a long period without his body being discovered, was very sad for all concerned.

“I know that neighbours don’t like to intrude on other people’s business but maybe there’s a lesson here for us all, just to keep an eye out for others, especially if they are living alone.”

Over the past two weeks, Salthill Gardaí have been in contact with Europol – the European Police Liaison Agency – in an effort to track down relatives of the dead man, whose mother may be still alive.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel.