Missing: Stephen Sherlock
Gardai fear a 31-year-old missing man may have been pushed into a Dublin canal after getting into an argument with people he was drinking with.
Sources have revealed that officers are investigating reports that Stephen Sherlock may have been pushed into the water in the Portobello area of south Dublin a number of weeks ago.
It is understood garda divers carried out searches of the Grand Canal yesterday, in an attempt to find a trace of Mr Sherlock who had been living homeless in the capital's city centre.
"This is being treated as a suspicious disappearance. Information has come in that he may have been pushed into the canal after getting into a row while drinking cans in the Portobello locality," a source said last night.
"However, there is no proof of that or any evidence that he is dead, but gardai are very concerned about his welfare," the source added.
Mr Sherlock, who is originally from the Pearse House flats complex in the south inner city, was reported missing by a male relative on Tuesday.
However, it has emerged he has not collected his social welfare payments for a number of weeks. An official garda appeal was launched yesterday.
Ken Foy