Paul McQuaid was probably not robbed and may have been confused after drinking in a nearby pub at the time he fell and died in a laneway, detectives have concluded. Mr McQuaid's body was found behind security fencing at the rear of the First Active Bank on Grafton Street three weeks after he went missing last month.
The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, said yesterday that he was setting up an internal inquiry to examine the circumstances surrounding Mr McQuaid's death.
He was concerned that the body had been found so close to where he was last seen on the night of his disappearance.
Referring to the question of private property and "how far we search", Mr Byrne said: "We have to learn from what happened here."
After the discovery of the body gardai found CCTV film of Mr McQuaid wandering into the laneway where he died. He was not being pursued. He had previously left a nearby nightclub, which also has a rear entrance through a laneway. It is now felt that he might have crossed Grafton Street and become confused when he found himself in the other laneway a short distance up Wicklow Street.
It is believed that he died from a fall when he tried to scale a high fence at the end of the lane.
The Commissioner insisted that there was no question of resources having prevented a search for Mr McQuaid.