Garda divers have recovered from a lake the body of a medical student who had been missing from Achill Island, Co Mayo, for almost two days.
Members of the Garda Sub Aqua unit discovered the body of Joseph Browne (19), Crusheen, Co Clare, in Keel Lake, a small inland waterway which is popular with windsurfers.
A search of the lake was undertaken after Mr Browne's hat was spotted in the water. His body was found at 4.20pm.
Prayers were recited at the scene by the parish priest of Achill, Fr Brendan McGuinness, before the body was removed to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.
Mr Browne, who had been studying at the National University of Ireland, Galway, had been with a group of university friends on the island for the weekend. The group had booked a number of holiday cottages in Keel.
It is understood that Mr Browne became parted from his friends at the Sandybanks, adjacent to Keel Beach, late on Saturday night. An effort to communicate with him by mobile phone later proved successful but a major search was mounted when the link suddenly went dead.
A search got under way on Sunday and continued throughout yesterday.
His parents travelled from Clare and took part. They expressed their gratitude through local Garda Supt Pat Doyle yesterday evening for the tremendous effort put into the search by civilians, gardaí and rescue services.
"The family really appreciated all the help given to them, particularly by the local community", Supt Doyle said.
Achill people turned out in large numbers to assist the gardaí, the local coast guard, Achill lifeboat, the Civil Defence and marine helicopter units in their search.
Members of the Garda Sub- Aqua team and the Garda Dog Unit joined the search operation yesterday morning.