Gardaí are investigating the discovery of a magic mushrooms cultivation operation in a flat in Dublin.

Nobody was in the Drimnagh flat when gardaí arrived to search it on Tuesday and the man linked to the property, a middle-aged foreign national, is seriously ill in hospital. It is unclear if his illness was in any way linked to the chemicals or the operation found in the flat at Davitt House, Galtymore Road.

Inside, officers found a large quantity of psilocybin, or magic mushrooms growing. The mushrooms are ingested and bring on an hallucinogenic-based high.

As well as the mushrooms being cultivated in an apparently organised set-up, a make-shift laboratory was also discovered in the flat.

Various chemicals and other unidentified liquids were also discovered and taken away for analysis.

Unusual find

Gardaí believe these were being used as part of the cultivation process and to enhance the potency of the mushrooms. The mushrooms discovered were also taken away for analysis.

The find is very unusual with a number of Garda sources saying they could not recall a similar cultivation operation ever being found in the State.

While cannabis growhouses are commonplace and have been for about a decade, cannabis is the dominant drug on the illicit Irish market. Magic mushrooms are rarely seized by gardaí and are regarded as a very niche drug.

The flat where the mushrooms were being cultivated underwent an extensive forensic examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau wearing protective clothing.