A 38-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a man whose body was found in the water near the Sliabh Liag seacliffs in County Donegal almost two weeks ago.
Alan Vial, with an address in Killybegs, was charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin on June 25 at an unknown place in the country.
Vial appeared at a special sitting of Ballyshannon District Court on Friday afternoon after being arrested earlier on Friday.
Garda Ciarán O'Brien told the court that Vial was arrested at 12:31 p.m. on Friday before being charged at 1:43 p.m.
O'Brien added that Vial made no reply after being cautioned.
Representing the accused, Gallagher addressed Ballyshannon District Court on Friday and said he was not making an application for bail due to the nature of the charges against his client. Gallagher asked for the case to be adjourned to Letterkenny District Court on Monday and also asked that his client receive all required medical treatment while in custody.
Garda Superintendent Karen agreed to all matters and Judge Éiteáin Cunningham remanded Vial in custody to appear before Letterkenny District Court via video link on July 17.
Vial was previously arrested on suspicion of a serious assault on June 26. A woman in her 20s was also arrested on the same date in connection with the incident.
Despite being questioned for two days, both Vial and the woman were later released without charge.
The initial arrest was followed by a large-scale search in the waters off Sliabh Liag.
Wilkin's body was recovered from the water on July 3 following a major search operation involving members of An Garda Síochána, the Irish Coast Guard, and the Donegal Mountain Rescue Team.
The body was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital where a post-mortem was carried out by the State Pathologist's Office. The results of the post-mortem have not yet been released.
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