A 15-year-old boy who died in a workplace accident on Wednesday has been named as Dylan Doublet from Old Parish, Co Waterford.
It is understood the teenager suffered critical injuries when a dumper truck he was in overturned in the townland of Hacketstown in Dungarvan. Dylan was pronounced dead at the scene. The HSA has been notified and will carry out an investigation.
Dylan’s village of Old Parish is located in Waterford’s Gaeltacht area. He has left behind his mother and father and two sisters, as well as many extended relatives and friends, according to his death notice. His funeral will take place on Saturday afternoon.
The principal of Mheánscoil San Nioclás paid “heartfelt condolences” to his family on behalf of students and staff at the school. Writing in Irish, Gráinne Ní Lúbaigh said Dylan’s memory “will live on in the hearts” of the school community.
Local councillor Séamus O’Donnell said everyone in the Old Parish area is “really shocked” by the tragedy, but they are rallying around the family.
“We are a close community here and the family is very well known in the parish… Nothing like this has ever happened here before that I can remember,” he said.
“I sympathise deeply with the family. It is a real tragedy… This is so hard to face,” he added.
In the neighbouring but interconnected parish of Ring, Sinn Féin councillor Conor McGuinness said there was a “palpable sense of shock” across the area.
“These communities are close-knit. People know each other and are very good neighbours,” he said.
“Any tragedy of this kind is hard and cruel, but it really hits home when it is somebody so young and on the threshold of adolescence with a good summer ahead… It is very difficult to comprehend,” Mr McGuinness said.