Man, 70s, held after woman, 50s, dies following assault in Portlaoise

A man in his 70s has been arrested after a woman was found dead following an alleged assault at a house in Portlaoise.

A man in his 70s has been arrested after a woman was found dead following an alleged assault at a house in Portlaoise.

The emergency services were called to the home on Church Street in the town shortly after 12.30pm on Sunday.

The woman who is aged in her 50s was pronounced dead at the scene. The state pathologist has been notified, and a postmortem is due to take place.

The man who was arrested at the scene is being detained at a garda station in the Eastern region under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

The scene has been preserved for a technical examination.

Gardaí appealed for any witnesses to the alleged incident to come forward.

“Anyone who was in the Church Street area on Sunday, July 5 between 11am and 1pm and who may have camera footage, including CCTV or dashcam, is asked to provide this footage to investigating gardaí," a spokesperson said.

"Anyone with information is asked to contact Portlaoise Garda Station on 057 867 4100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station."