Permission to exhume man's remains buried in West Cork brings hope of identifying him

The unidentified man is included in a database of unidentified human remains across the country

The man's remains were found in the River Lee at the Lee Fields in July 1999. File picture: Denis Minihane

The identification of an unknown man buried in West Cork for the past 25 years is a step closer after the granting of an exhumation licence.

Exhumation of the remains of the man from a plot in St Patrick’s Cemetery in Bandon will now take place to facilitate the harvesting of DNA samples. The remains were found in the River Lee at the Lee Fields in July 1999 and were taken from the water by fire officers.