Tributes have been paid to the model and socialite Katy French, who died in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, yesterday evening following her collapse at a house in Co Meath in the early hours of Sunday morning. She was 24 years of age.
As gardaí last night confirmed that their preliminary inquiries into her death would continue, her family said she had "passed away peacefully" in the arms of her sister Jill and alongside her mother and father.
They expressed their thanks to hospital staff, as well as gratitude for all the "letters, blessings, gifts and prayers from people all over the country", which had left them "overwhelmed".
"Although we did not get our yearned for miracle, all the expressions of love you sent her were powerfully healing in different ways," they said. "And we hope that you can continue to send your love to her as she journeys on."
In a number of statements throughout the week, the Health Service Executive had said Ms French remained in a "seriously ill" condition, following her admission to the hospital on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the HSE last night refused to say what had caused Ms French's death, but confirmed that the Coroner's Office has been notified.
Meanwhile, the Garda Síochána, which had confirmed earlier yesterday that it was making "preliminary inquiries" into the circumstances surrounding Ms French's hospitalisation and was liaising with her family, said these inquiries would continue following her death.
A Garda spokeswoman added that no further details would be made available until the results of a postmortem are known.
Ms French was well known for her outspoken views on issues such as abortion and cocaine use, having admitted in a recent interview to having taken the drug.
She also came to prominence after taking part in RTÉ's recent Celebrities Go Wild programme.
She was born in Switzerland, but her family moved to Ireland when she was a young girl and settled in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. After completing her school education, she had planned to graduate with a psychology qualification, but instead chose a career in modelling.
Ms French, who recently visited Calcutta at the request of the charity Goal, had left an "indelible impression", according to its chief executive John O'Shea.
"She showed herself to be a caring, warm, and deeply emotional person during her time with street children, child prostitutes, slum and city dwellers," he said.