The body of Irishman Mike Dwyer, who was shot along with two others in Bolivia last week, has arrived back in Ireland.
Mr Dwyer (24), from Co Tipperary, and two other men were killed by police in the city of Santa Cruz, in the east of the country.
A Garda spokesman confirmed today the young man’s remains had been repatriated on a flight from Bolivia last night.
Yesterday the Minister for Foreign Micheál Martin welcomed comments made by Bolivian president Evo Morales that he would be willing to facilitate an international investigation into the shooting.
Mr Morales, in an interview with the BBC yesterday, said he would be happy for such an investigation to be held.
Authorities in Bolivia have alleged that the three men were involved in an international plot to assassinate Mr Morales.
One of those shot dead was a former combatant on the Croatian side in the Balkans war: Eduardo Rózsa Flores, who was of Hungarian and Bolivian nationality and is alleged to have been the group’s leader.
Mr Martin told The Irish Times yesterday that he had spoken to Ramón Quintana, the minister of the office of the president (effectively the prime minister) on Wednesday evening, during which he had requested the setting up of an international inquiry.
He said that Mr Quintana had undertaken to convey the request directly to Mr Morales.
He said the Bolivian minister had also committed to the Irish authorities being given full access to, and disclosure of, all papers and reports connected with the incident.
It has also emerged that An Garda Síochána may become involved in trying to establish what Mr Dwyer was doing in Bolivia.
The Irish Timeshas established that three men – two Hungarians and a Pole – went to Bolivia with the Tipperary man last November but returned to Ireland when a planned bodyguard course fell through.
The men all worked for Integrated Risk Management Services, which provides security at Shell’s Corrib pipeline in Co Mayo.