Members of a community in Co Carlow are 'shocked and heartbroken' following the death of a young Irish man in Australia over the weekend.
19-year-old Cian English died after he fell from an apartment balcony in Queensland on Saturday.
Police allege Cian was trying to flee from three men who had robbed him at knife-point when he fell from the fourth floor.
Three suspects were arrested, and have all since been charged with one count of murder and armed robbery.
Anne Ahern is an Executive Member of O’Hanrahans GAA club in Carlow - a club members of the English family have been heavily involved with in the past.
Responding to the tragic news from Australia, she told Newstalk Breakfast: “It’s absolutely shocking… the sadness and shock that’s felt here, and the sympathy for the family, is just overwhelming.
“It’s an horrendous tragedy to lose your child at any stage - it’s such an awful, awful thing to try and bear. But the circumstances around this seem to be so awfully horrendous… it just has to be so unbearable for the family.
The family had travelled back to Carlow last December for a family bereavement.
Ms Ahern said that was the first time she had seen them in a number of years, as they had been living outside Ireland for a number of years.
She said: "They’re two hugely and highly respected families in Carlow, the Englishes and the Websters.
“Everybody is just heartbroken for them. Really heartbroken.
“It’s all exasperated then by the fact they’re so far away from their roots. There’s COVID-19 as well… with funerals and bereavements, that makes it much more difficult for everybody.”
