The families of two young Irish students killed in a house fire in France are expected to travel to the country today.
The students - who have been named by the Institute of Technology Tallaght as Patricia McDonald, 21, from Cootehill in Co Cavan and Carol Nolan, 20, from Dublin - were found at a house they were renting in the town of Lorient in Brittany.
Their bodies were discovered by the landlord after midday on Friday when he saw smoke coming from the house. An investigation is under way by police and technical experts into the cause of the fire, which is believed to have started by accident.
Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs will be aiding the families as they are briefed on the investigation and make arrangements to bring their loved ones back to Ireland.
The pair were third-year European Studies students at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT) in Dublin. Ms McDonald and Ms Nolan were at a college in south Brittany for the academic year as part of an Erasmus university exchange programme at the Dublin institute.
An aunt of Ms McDonald's said the families were devastated by the news. Ms McDonald's mother, Theresa, has described her daughter as a girl who endeared the hearts of everyone who met her. She said the family was struggling to come to terms with the loss.
The students had just travelled back to the region last Tuesday as their exams were due to start on Monday.
"Patricia and Carol were hard-working, successful students, who were very popular with their lecturers and student colleagues," said Dr Tim Creedon, director of the Institute of Technology Tallaght.
The institute's international officer has travelled to Lorient in France to aid the families.
Dr Creedon also said the institute would be offering support and assistance to the families, lecturers and class friends through its counselling and pastoral care service.
He said the ITT was a small community of only 2,200 people and had been devastated by the tragic news.
PA