Armed Gardaí arrived at the scene when the ferry docked last night.

The woman's body was found in the bathroom.

Following the discovery of the body, a "public order incident", described as a "brawl" broke out on board.

Armed Gardaí and the public order unit arrived when the ferry docked at 5:30 pm.

The woman's body remains at the scene which has been declared a crime scene and has been preserved for technical and forensic examination.

A Garda spokesperson said: "Gardaí are currently at the scene of a serious incident onboard a passenger ferry en route to Rosslare, Co Wexford, this evening.

"A crime scene has been declared."

Gardaí are still waiting on results from a postmortem examination, and they have ensured the public that "there are no public safety issues at this time."

Local councillor Ger Carthy told the Irish Independent: "There's an air of shock and sadness here in Rosslare tonight.

"The specifics are subject to a garda investigation at this stage, the outcome of which we'll learn in the fulness of time.

"Regardless, at the centre of it is a woman who has lost her life and the thoughts of the community here are with her family."