The discovery was made near the Fonthill Road Bridge in Clondalkin, Co Dublin on the fourth day of the search.

The body was removed to the city morgue for formal identification.

Meanwhile it emerged yesterday that David's friend Shane Coughlan, also aged 18, whose body was found in the Grand Canal last Wednesday was involved in an altercation just hours before he died.

Senior garda� say he had a row with a number of men at a party last Sunday morning which resulted in "pushing and shoving". However they are completely satisfied there was no foul play involved in his death.

Coughlan and his best friend David White were at the party at a house in the Lindisfarne Estate in Clondalkin, which was attended by between 15 and 20 people.

Shane had a verbal disagreement with some fellow partygoers and words were exchanged. Garda� say the dispute was brief and was sorted out before the two men left the party.

Detectives have interviewed the majority of people who attended the party and are satisfied that the row was minor and was over in a matter of minutes.

Shane Coughlan's body was recovered from the canal by garda divers. He died from drowning and there were no marks on his body to suggest anything sinister had occurred.

Three days later David White's family and friends were still maintaining a vigil along the canal when garda� finally recovered the body of the second teenager.

Footwear similar to those worn by David White had been found at the canal bank last Tuesday as garda� continued their search for the missing 18-year-old.

Two witnesses have come forward to say they saw the young men between 7.30am and 8am last Sunday in the proximity of the Ninth Lock Road, near the Esso garage and the canal, at the Fonthill Road bridge.

It is not known what happened to the men after this but garda� suspect that one of them entered the water - either accidentally or to have a swim - and got into difficulty. The other man then tried to save his friend and also got caught out by the deceptively strong current.

A team of half a dozen members of the Garda SubAqua Unit spent yesterday scouring a half-mile stretch of the canal between the ninth and 11th locks before White's body was recovered.

The garda helicopter had been involved in the search and garda� from outside divisions in Dublin also helped in the recovery.

David White, from Carrigmore Avenue in Citywest, Tallaght, is the eldest of three children.

Shane Coughlan, from Millpark in Clondalkin, was the youngest of three sons.

His brother Graham plays for Sheffield Wednesday football club in England.