Missing teenagers body found in Castletown River

was rushed to hospital for treatment of their injuries.

Commenting on the events of last thursday, Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú said: ‘It has been an incredibly sad and tragic 24 hours in Dundalk and indeed in Louth.

‘Dundalk experienced a lot of sadness yesterday with the murder of Catherine henry in Bridge Street, the injuring of a local man in an accident in Clanbrassil Street and the recovery of a body during the search for a young Dundalk man.

‘Later that day, tragedy struck in Drogheda when a man in his eighties was killed in a traffic accident. there is no doubt that the community in Dundalk is reeling from the events here and my thoughts are with the families of those who have died and have been injured in these incidents.

‘It was a particularly tragic day for those involved. however I am aware there was a lot of sharing of images and also the posting of speculation and rumour online which only added to the pain of the families and loved ones af- fected by these tragedies.

‘I would ask people to refrain for sharing rumours, conjecture or commentary on social media. We need to deal with the issue of social media companies and their responsibilities as regards what they allow to be shared online and their responsibility in adding to families’ hurt.

‘I would appeal for anyone with information on any of yesterday’s events, to contact Dundalk Gardaí on 042 9388400 or the confidential line on 1800 666 111’.

The funeral of Vincent Dillon will take place this morning after his body was recovered from the Castletown River last Thursday afternoon. The 19 year old was last seen at his home in Dundalk in the early morning of Sunday 14th May. A missing person appeal was launched but Gardaí stood that search down as they confirmed a body had been recovered from the Castletown River.

“Following the discovery of a body in Dundalk, Co. Louth on Thursday, 25th May 2023, the missing person appeal for Vincent Dillon (19 years) has been stood down.

“An Garda Síochána would like to thank the public and the media for their assistance.

“No further media action is required and no further information is available at this time,” read the statement.

A statement from Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue confirmed that they had helped recover the body.

“The Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue and Recovery Service paged at 10.00am on Thursday 25.5.23.

The call received was to provide additional assistance to a search team from the Boyne Fishermen’s Rescue.

The team who had been conducting search operations in Dundalk for the last number of days for a missing local person had successfully located a body on marsh land / river bed area.

We dispatched additional land units and equipment from the Drogheda base, On arrival both teams formed a plan and navigated through marsh land to recover the body.

Crews then transferred the body to a nearby extraction point where a handover was done with Dundalk Gardai,” read the statement.

Vincent’s funeral will take place today (Wednesday 31st May) with removal at 10:40am to St Joseph’s Church, Castletown arriving for funeral mass at 11:30am. Burial afterwards in the adjoining ceremony.

Louth County Council have stated that it is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure their structure is not likely to be dangerous to any person or property following an accident on Clanbrassil Street last thursday where a man was injured by falling bricks following a partial collapse of the top of the building.

When asked by the Dundalk Leader what the process was with regards to ensuring buildings are safe the following statement was issued.

“It is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure their structure is not likely to be dangerous to any person or property – Louth County Council welcomes reports of dangerous structures and will investigate same where reported. If a dangerous structure is brought to our attention it will be inspected. If the assessment raises concerns, the Authority has the option of issuing a dangerous structures notice.

“this notice permits the Authority or requires the owner in the first instance to carry out immediate works to fence off the property to prevent public access. the Authority may also require the owners to carry out temporary works to address safety concerns. the Authority may carry out independent detailed inspections or require the owner to engage a chartered engineer/ surveyor to carry out inspections & submit a report to the Authority. this report in conjunction with the Authority’s own findings may lead to further works being required by the owner to make the building safe. When these works have been completed further inspections are required to assess if those works have addressed the safety concerns. the question was also asked if this incident would result in Louth County Council checking other buildings around town to ensure that they are structurally sound?

“there is no statutory requirement for the Authority to check buildings of a certain age. It would be the responsibility of all owners to ensure that their properties regardless of age are safe,” explained the local authority.

When asked if a statutory notice had ever been sent to the owner of the building which partially collapsed Louth County Council confirmed that a dangerous structures notice was served following the partial collapse of the building. No previous notices had been served.

“there are no plans for the Authority to do this. I refer you to the previous answer regarding owner responsibilities. Louth County Council would encourage property owners to regularly inspect their buildings to ensure safety.

Louth County Council also stated that there was no evidence at this stage to suggest that other works on a nearby building may have been a contributory factor in the collapse of this building.

“Investigations are continuing to determine the root cause of the collapse. We cannot comment further on an ongoing investigation,” concluded the statement.