Body recovered from water at Sliabh Liag

The body of a man was recovered from the water near Sliabh Liag.

The body was discovered during the early hours of Monday morning.

Donegal Live understands that Gardai and the Coast Guard returned to the area late on Sunday night. The body has been taken to Letterkenny University Hospital, where a post mortem examination will be carried out.

The State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan, has been notified and is expected to travel to Letterkenny to carry out a post mortem.

The results of the examination will determine the next steps in the investigation.

The body was removed from the scene at around 7am on Monday.

An incident room, under the direction of a Senior Investigating Officer, has been set up at Ballyshannon Garda Station.

It comes after a week of intense speculation in south-west Donegal, following what was described as an ‘alleged assault’. The Sliabh Liag cliffs were closed to the public for much of last week as Gardai combed the area for clues.

Gardai received a report that a man had been seriously assaulted and was missing.

Two people, a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s, were arrested and questioned on Monday and Tuesday before being released without charge. A file has been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)

The identity of the missing man was not released by Gardai, but he is understood to have been socialising with two people in south-west Donegal over the weekend.

A house on the outskirts of Killybegs was sealed off on Monday. Members of the Garda forensics team carried out a search of the property and uniformed Gardai remained at the scene through the week.

A car, belonging to the arrested man, was also seized by Gardai at the beginning of last week after a warrant

The cliffs were closed to the public from Monday-Thursday as a major multi-agency investigation was conducted involving Gardai, the Coast Guard, Donegal Mountain Rescue Team and the 118 Rescue helicopter.

On Thursday, the Garda Water Unit set up at Teelin Pier, a few kilometres from the cliffs and carried out further searches.

The Sliabh Liag cliffs reopened on Fridat.

A Garda spokesperson said: “Investigating Gardaí are appealing to any persons travelling in the vicinity of Killybegs/Slieve League between the afternoon of Saturday 24th June 2023 and the evening of Sunday 25th June 2023 who observed any activity which drew their attention to come forward.

“Any road users travelling in these areas at these times who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Ballyshannon Garda Station on 071 985 8530, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.”