Man dies after balcony fall

A WEXFORD family is today making plans for the funeral of their only son who died after falling from an apartment balcony while on holiday in Spain with his girlfriend.

Brendan McDonald, 21, from Abbeyview, Campile, was with girlfriend Deirdre White and two friends in the popular Costa del Sol resort of Torremolinos when he lost his footing and fell from the balcony of his fourth-floor apartment on Saturday night.

The two couples had only arrived at the holiday resort four days earlier.

The tragedy has hit his close-knit family hard. The young medical company worker is the youngest child and only son of Joseph and Margaret McDonald. He is also survived by three older sisters.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said they were last night making arrangements with the Spanish authorities to fly Brendan’s body home.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old man died early on Saturday in a seaside resort accident.

Kevin Fowley plunged 40 feet over a cliff at 3.15am in Bundoran, Co. Donegal, while out walking with a younger brother and a friend.

They had been guests at a wedding in a nearby hotel.

Mr Fowley, a digger driver, lived at Creevykeel, Co Sligo. Gardaí said initial enquiries indicated he lost his footing and slipped over the cliff edge.