Scientists search for DNA from Ireland's first settlers

An undersea hunt is underway for DNA from Ireland's first settlers.

IT Sligo and UCC join the Irish Marine Institute, this weekend to search for signs of ancient life submerged beneath the Irish Sea.

It is part of a project to examine 'Europe's Lost Frontiers' which the public can follow using the #IrishSeaExploration hashtag.

Chief scientist, Dr James Bonsall, from IT Sligo said that they are using new technology to retrieve signs of life from thousands of years ago.

"it's the first time we're able to get down into the Irish Sea and take these samples," he said.

"it's a submerged landscape, we can't go down and do excavations that most people would be familiar with, seeing on television and so forth... The only we can do it securely and safely, preserving the DNA, is by this coring method."

- Digital desk