Members of the Garda Water Unit are expected to use special breathing apparatus to recover a body from a slurry pit in Co Cork.
Gardaí discovered the body, believed to be that of a man in his 30s or 40s, in the slurry pit at a farm at Shanlaragh in a remote area about five miles north of Dunmanway at about 9am yesterday as a result of a planned search operation.
Local officers under Supt Pat Maher requested the services of the Garda divers to recover the remains from the slurry pit which is located under a slatted cattle shed and the Garda Technical Bureau to carry out a forensic examination of the scene.
The body remained at the scene overnight and members of the Garda Water Unit are expected to use breathing apparatus to avoid inhaling dangerous methane gas when they try to recover the body today.
Gardaí have also requested the services of the State Pathologist's Office and it is hoped, pending the successful recovery of the body today, to carry out a full postmortem on the remains at Cork University Hospital which will show how the man died.
Gardaí will await the results of the postmortem before deciding what direction their investigation will take.
While gardaí were remaining tight-lipped about the possible identity of the deceased, The Irish Timesunderstands that officers are investigating whether the body may be that of a British man who was living among New Age Travellers on nearby Coole Mountain.
The area has been home to New Age Travellers over the past 20 or so years and it is understood that gardaí are investigating whether the body may be that of a man who was reported to have disappeared from the area a couple of weeks ago.
The farm where the body was discovered yesterday is an outlying farm belonging to a farmer living some distance away.
However, a couple who were renting the farmhouse on the land were yesterday evacuated by gardaí as they sealed off the farm.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone who may have any information in relation to the matters under investigation to come forward and contact them on 023-21570 at Clonakilty Garda station where an incident room has been established.
