Commissioner orders review into woman's canal death

Drew Harris has ordered a peer review of the investigation into her death

A review into the police investigation of a Fermanagh woman’s death has been ordered by the Garda Commissioner (head of the Irish police force).

The body of Kelly Lynch from Lisnaskea, in County Fermanagh, was discovered on St Patrick's Day 2024 in the Ulster Canal, in Monaghan, after a night out with friends.

At the time Gardai said it was not treating the 23-year-old's death as suspicious and referred it to the coroner following a post-mortem.

After meeting the family on Monday, Commissioner Drew Harris ordered "an examination of the original investigation to identify if there [are] any potential additional lines of enquiry".

Mr Harris said he and Ch Supt Alan McGovern met the family and "listened carefully to their concerns".

He has directed that a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) "external" to the Louth-Cavan-Monaghan division conducts a peer review of the investigation into her death.

A peer review is not a re-opening of the case and involves examining the original investigation to identify any new lines of inquiry.