Shot Irish 'Mercenary's' Body Returns Home

Diplomatic moves continue today as the body of shot Irishman Michael Dwyer arrived back in Ireland from Bolivia today.

Mr Dwyer, 24, from Co Tipperary, died along with two other alleged mercenaries shot by Bolivian police in the city of Santa Cruz.

The authorities there continue to insist that the men were involved in a plot to assassinate the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales.

Mr Dwyer is said to have been working in Bolivia as a security guard.

One of the others who died was a man with joint Bolivian, Hungarian and Croatian nationality while two other foreign nationals were arrested. Weapons and ammunition were also allegedly seized.

Hungarian and Irish diplomats are now in Bolivia trying to get more information about the deaths of their nationals as both countries deny any involvement in any conspiracy to destabilise Bolivia.

The Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin has also said that Mr Dwyer had no criminal record or army background.

He said the Government had a "legitimate right to seek out facts about how one of its citizens came to be killed".

Bolivian President Evo Morales invited Mr Martin or other international figures to travel to Bolivia to help the investigation, as long as they were "transparent".

"I invite the foreign secretary, or whomever else, to come to Bolivia and verify how they did it, how they launched bombs, how armed they were," he said.

President Morales has said the men had belonged to a gang of foreign mercenaries who were helping opposition politicians in the province of Santa Cruz.

However, tributes were paid to the 24-year-old, who graduated last autumn with an honours degree in construction management.

Mr Dwyer worked part-time as a doorman in Galway city before going abroad, apparently for work in private security.

See: Probe Call Over Dwyer Killing