The Naval Service flagship, LE Eithne, will remain tied up in Dublin for some days until gardai complete their investigations into the death of a 22-yearold sailor at the weekend. It is the second unusual death of a member of the ship's crew in less than a year.
A post-mortem examination yesterday determined that Able Seaman Brian Gorey, from Castletroy View, Limerick, drowned. However, it also showed he had received serious injuries to his head and body.
Detectives from Pearse Street Garda station will question all 64 crew and carry out a forensic examination before it is allowed to leave its berth at Sir John Rogerson's Quay on the Liffey. Blood was found on the deck near the ship's bow.
Both Garda and military sources yesterday said there was no evidence to link the death to an incident on Friday night when a young woman claimed she had been drugged and sexually assaulted while on board. The woman, from Dublin, went to hospital on Saturday but had not made a statement to gardai by yesterday evening.
Mr Gorey was on shore leave on Saturday night and returned to the ship around midnight. He spent the evening drinking with other sailors in city centre bars. It is understood he continued drinking in the mess on board the ship. However, the Defence Forces Press Office said the bar closed at around 12.30 a.m.
Gardai are attempting to discover what happened between this time and around 5.30 a.m., when it is reported that two sailors on watch heard shouting and then spotted a body floating in the Liffey about 50 yards from the ship. A boat was launched and the body recovered.
Gardai began questioning crew on Sunday morning and this continued throughout yesterday.
Mr Gorey is the second crewman to die on the LE Eithne in less than a year. In July last year, Able Mechanic Robert Dean (20) from Cork city was lost at sea during the ship's return across the Atlantic from a visit to three US ports.
Mr Dean was reported missing after he failed to report for a morning watch on July 20th. The ship turned back on its course some 920 miles west of Bantry and began a search.
After an extensive air and sea scan of a 100 square-mile area, the search was abandoned. Mr Dean's body was not recovered. He had been in the service for only a year.
A military police and Garda investigation was initiated into the circumstances after the ship returned to Haulbowline. Three Naval Service crewmen were disciplined for drinking on duty shortly before Mr Dean's disappearance, but the Naval Service said that there was no evidence to link the two incidents.
The Defence Forces will initiate its own internal disciplinary inquiry once the Garda investigations into the latest death are complete.
Mr Gorey was single. He is survived by his parents, Mary and Michael Gorey, his sister Lorraine and brother David. He joined the Naval Service four years ago and served on the Le Eithne for 2-1/2 years.