Gardai in Cork are investigating after a man was found unconscious in public toilet in the city.

He was pronounced dead a short time later.

The 42 year old man who was found in an unresponsive state this morning.

The man, was living in Carrigaline area and was found in an unresponsive state in the public toilets on the Grand Parade in the city centre at around 1am.

Emergency services were called and the man was taken by ambulance to the Mercy University Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.

The man had no obvious signs of injury or any obvious cause of death but gardai cordoned off the toilet area for a forensic examination by garda technical experts.

A Garda spokesman said that they hope a post-mortem examination which is due to be carried out later today at Cork University Hospital will establish how exactly the man died.

It's understood the man was out socialising with family members and it was they who raised the alarm when he failed to emerge from the public toilets.