Gardaí make arrest in murder investigation

GARDAÍ investigating the murder of a man whose skeletal remains were found in the Dublin Mountains earlier this month have made an arrest.

A man in his 20s was last night being questioned about the murder of James Kenny McDonagh.

The 28-year-old was reported after he vanished on October 27, 2010. The father of one, who lived in Islandbridge, Dublin, was last seen in nearby Bluebell driving a wine-coloured Mazda 626, registration number 02 D 68758.

That car was discovered at Milltown a few hours after his disappearance.

While gardaí officially treated the case as a missing person’s investigation, they had considered it a murder probe, describing him as a “high-risk missing person” and saying they had “serious concerns for his safety”.

Mr McDonagh’s skeletal remains were found by hillwalkers in a shallow grave in forestry near Military Road, Tallaght on January 8. The grave had been disturbed after a tree toppled.

A subsequent autopsy showed Mr McDonagh died as a result of serious trauma to his head, which may have been caused by a gunshot.

The man being questioned by gardaí was arrested in Dublin early yesterday.

He was last night being detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 at Kilmainham Garda Station.