THE towpath along the Grand Canal in Sallins was closed throughout yesterday after what is believed to be further remains of Dubliner Kenneth O’Brien were discovered there on Sunday. More bags were taken from the canal there on yesterday afternoon (Monday).

Further evidential material was found at another site also on Sunday close to the Clondalkin/Fonthill train station.

According to local reports a bag contain human limbs was found a few hundred meters upstream from the town at a bend beside the Sallins Wharf estate.

Investigating detectives, attached to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), were searching a warehouse in Ardclough on Friday as part of the murder investigations when they came across €50,000 worth of drugs believed to be Ecstasy.

“It is not believed that the seizure is related to the murder investigation. No arrests have been made and investigations are continuing,” said a garda spokesman.

In Sallins gardai blocked the towpath on the Grand Canal and at Fonthill throughout yesterday (Monday) as members of the garda underwater unit combined both sites.

The partial remains of Kenneth O’Brien (33) were first discovered on Saturday, January 16, in the Grand Canal near Ardclough. The father of one was last seen at his family home in Clondalkin in Dublin on the day before. He had returned from working in Australia just a few weeks before.

The remains recovered on Sunday night were undergoing DNA testing yesterday (Monday).

At a briefing on Monday afternoon gardai said the family of Mr O’Brien are very stressed and going through a traumatic time. They thanked the public for their help. They said also that the murder inquiry is a ‘slow, methodical process’ and that 300 lines of inquiry are being followed. The gardaí appealed to anyone who may have been walking along the Grand Canal in the Sallins Ardclough area last Friday or Saturday week to contact them at Leixlip Garda Station.