Sensational publicity about a man arrested and charged over a hostel fire in Australia that killed 15 young backpackers - including Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe - created “universal revulsion” and poisoned any chance he had of a fair trial, his lawyer told an appeal court Tuesday.

THE family of an Irish girl who perished in a fire in Australia two years ago attended a memorial service at the scene this weekend.

Mourners from six countries gathered today in a small, rural Australian town to dedicate a memorial for 15 backpackers who perished in a hostel fire there two years ago.

The families of some of the backpackers who died when an arsonist set fire to an Australian hostel two years ago are to sue its managers for alleged negligence, a lawyer said today.

A memorial to the 15 travellers, including an Irish woman, killed when an arsonist set fire to a hostel in Australia is to be opened in October.

A homeless fruit picker was today convicted of murder and arson for starting a blaze that tore through an Australian backpackers’ hostel killing 15 young travellers, including young Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe.

A Brisbane Supreme Court jury was unable to reach a verdict today in the trial of accused Childers hostel arsonist Robert Paul Long.

Fire alarms at a backpackers’ hostel in Australia were switched off by one of the managers just weeks before a fire tore through the building, killing 15 young travellers, including Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe, 24, a court heard.

Prosecutors today built a compelling case against an itinerant fruit picker charged with starting a fire at an Australian hostel that killed 15 young travellers, including a girl from Limerick.

The murder trial of the man accused of starting a fire at an Australian backpacker hostel that killed 15 young travellers, including Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe, has been postponed to February 18.

The man accused of starting a fatal fire at an Australian youth hostel will face trial in January, a court has ruled.

An Australian magistrate has ruled that there is enough evidence against the man charged with a hostel fire that killed 15 backpackers, including Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe, for him to stand trial for murder and arson.

A fruit picker accused of starting the hostel fire that killed 15 young backpackers confessed to the crime, claims an Australian police officer.

A fruit picker accused of starting a hostel fire in Australia that killed 15 backpackers - including an Irish girl - discussed burning down the building in the weeks before the blaze, a court has been told.

A fire alarm at a backpackers' hostel had been switched off the night as flames swept through the building, killing 15 young travellers, a court has been told.

A survivor of last year's Australian hostel fire which killed 15 young backpackers has told a court that he saw a man resembling the suspect near a burning rubbish bin shortly before the blaze.

Lawyers for the drifter accused of murder and arson following the Australian hostel fire that killed 15 young backpackers say he allegedly confessed to police that he started the blaze.

A British tourist has told a court that the man accused of starting the Australian hostel fire asked her to leave open a fire escape so he could gain access on the night of the tragedy.

A fruit-picker charged with murder after 15 backpackers died in a hostel blaze has appeared in court in Australia.