Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has ordered an internal review into the investigation of a Co Fermanagh woman’s death after she was found dead in a canal in Monaghan last year.
The body of Kelly Lynch (23) from Lisnaskea, was discovered on the morning of Sunday March 17 2023 in the Ulster Canal after a night out with friends in the town.
She was the eldest in a family of six children.
Following a post-mortem, An Garda Síochána said it was not treating Ms Lynch’s death as suspicious and referred it to the coroner.
However, the young woman’s family have raised concerns over the service’s investigation into her death.
Following a meeting between her family and Gardaí, a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said Commissioner Harris had ordered a “peer review” of the investigation which would be conducted by a separate division to the original probe.
“Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Chief Superintendent, Cavan-Monaghan Division, Alan McGovern yesterday met with the family of Ms Kelly Lynch and listened carefully to their concerns,” a statement to the Irish News said.
“Following this meeting, Commissioner Harris has directed that a senior investigating officer (SIO) from a division external to the Cavan-Monaghan Division conducts a peer review of the investigation into the death of Ms Lynch.”
A peer review is not a re-opening of the case, but an examination of the original investigation to identify if there are any potential new lines of enquiry.
Ms Lynch’s mother Julieanne welcomed the review of the investigation from the Commissioner and said she believed their concerns were “finally being listened to”.
“After meeting both Commissioner Harris and Chief Superintendent McGovern, we felt that we had finally been listened to,” Mrs Lynch said.
“All our concerns were valid and remain so.
“Kelly’s death and the subsequent investigation was never handled in a manner that was satisfactory to us.”
Julieanne has consistently voiced concerns over the investigation into her daughter’s death.
The family say they last saw Kelly on Wednesday 13 March and that she had gone for a night out in Monaghan on Friday 15 March.
Statements given to An Garda Síochána say that Kelly had been missing from the early hours of Saturday morning, with her body discovered more than 24 hours later at around 8.30am on Sunday 17 March.
A post-mortem carried out by the state pathologist found that the cause of Kelly’s death was drowning, but her family say she had suffered other injuries, including broken ribs.
The family have raised thousands of pounds in order to fund legal fees and hire an independent investigator to look at the case.
