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 father of a young woman traveller who died in an arson attack with 14 others at a backpackers’ hostel in Australia said he and his wife will be on a “memory trail” when they fly out today to take part in a special ceremony.

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 drifter who started a blaze that ripped through an Australian backpackers’ hostel, killing 15 young holidaymakers, including a Limerick woman, was today sentenced to life imprisonment.

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 jury in Australia has entered a second day of deliberations in the trial of a homeless fruit-picker accused of starting a fire that killed 15 young backpackers, including Limerick woman Julie O'Keeffe and seven British people.

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

A jury today began considering its verdict in the trial of a drifter charged with starting an Australian hostel fire that killed 15 young backpackers, including seven Britons and an Irish woman.

A backpacker who waited six months before telling police he saw accused hostel arsonist Robert Long standing over a burning bin on the night of the fire yesterday denied he was telling ‘‘a pack of lies’’.

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.

A fruit picker who allegedly started a fire at a Australian hostel that killed 15 travellers, including an Irish girl, had ‘‘expressed antagonism to backpackers in general’’ before the blaze, a prosecutor said today.

A homeless fruit picker today pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges linked to a devastating blaze that ripped through an Australian backpackers’ hostel, killing 15 tourists nearly two years ago.

A 38-year-old drifter accused of setting fire to the Australian backpackers’ hostel in which Limerick girl Julie O'Keeffe perished, is due to go on trial on Monday.

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

The trial of a fruit picker accused of deliberately starting a fire in Australian backpackers hostel which killed 15 travellers, including six Britons, has been postponed.

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

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.

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