A man was being questioned last night in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 31-year-old Dublin nurse, whose body was discovered in her city-centre apartment.
The victim, Sara Neligan, was a daughter of retired consultant cardiac surgeon Maurice Neligan and his wife, Pat.
Ms Neligan was found dead at her apartment at the Winter Garden apartment complex on Pearse Street in the south inner city at about 8pm on Thursday.
Friends of the dead woman had become concerned for her safety and decided to call gardaí when they were unable to contact her in recent days.
When members of the force arrived at the apartment on Thursday night they found Ms Neligan's remains.
The suspect was at the apartment at the time and was immediately arrested.
Senior Garda sources said Ms Neligan had been stabbed repeatedly. There were signs of a struggle in the apartment.
The Neligan family yesterday released a statement through Brendan Walsh and Partners Solicitors.
It read: "Maurice and Pat Neligan and their family are devastated at the news of the death of their beloved Sara. She will be very much missed by her family and friends. The family ask for privacy at this time."
A postmortem was being carried out by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy at the city morgue last night. While the time and exact cause of death would be established by Prof Cassidy's examination, gardaí believe Ms Neligan may have been dead for some time before her remains were found.
It is understood some of Ms Neligan's friends began to become concerned for her safety as early as Wednesday night after she failed to meet up with them or contact them.
Efforts were made to contact her again on Thursday but to no avail. By Thursday evening some of Ms Neligan's closest friends became so concerned that they went to her apartment to investigate.
When they were still unable to make contact with her there they called gardaí. Members of the force went to the apartment and found the dead woman and the suspect.
Gardaí immediately began a murder investigation and the area was sealed off. The suspect was arrested and taken to Pearse Street Garda station where he was still being held last night. The apartment was forensically examined on Thursday evening and throughout yesterday.
Ms Neligan had recently worked at the Mater hospital, Dublin.
