GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING after a man who was homeless was found dead in a chair in the emergency department of Tallaght Hospital on Saturday afternoon.

In a statement, gardaí confirmed a probe into the death of a man in his 40s.

They were alerted to the scene at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.

“A post-mortem will be carried out to establish the cause of death. However foul play is not suspected,” gardaí said.

Tallaght University Hospital confirmed that a person died in the waiting area of the emergency department.

“The person in question is understood to have been homeless and had been sheltering at the hospital and had not sought medical treatment,” a statement said.

Management at the hospital are co-operating with the gardaí in their investigations and an internal review will also be initiated immediately into the circumstances of the incident.

The hospital would like to extend their condolences to the family of the deceased.

Campaign group Inner City Helping Homeless said that both homelessness and health were “beyond crisis levels” and called for Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to initiate an immediate review of homeless services.