Village stunned as man drowns in holiday tragedy

A 25-YEAR-OLD building worker died tragically in the Canary Islands just a day after arriving on a holiday.

Padraig Breslin, from Aighe, Ardara, Co Donegal, drowned on Sunday in his hotel swimming pool at Playa des Ingles in Gran Canaria.

He arrived there on Saturday to start a holiday with five friends.

His parents are Patsy and Kathleen Breslin. They have three other sons and a daughter.

The Irish embassy in Madrid is providing consular assistance to the bereaved family and the young man’s friends.

Ardara was stunned by the tragedy. Padraig, a carpenter, had travelled with a group of bachelor pals, including three brothers from the Gallagher family in the neighbouring townland of Meenavalley.

Publican Stephen McCahill said word began to filter back after Mass on Sunday about the tragedy.

He added: “It’s very, very sad. Padraig was a very popular member of the community.”

Neighbours said details were still sketchy yesterday but they understood the accident happened in the early hours of Sunday.

Padraig’s father, a farmer, and the rest of the family were said to be inconsolable.

Local county councillor Terence Slowey said: “The group were all very close friends. They were typical of hundreds of groups of young men who head for holidays in the sun at this time of year.

“They work hard all year and then take off on a well-deserved break.”

Meanwhile, a 69-year-old woman died in Letterkenny yesterday after she fell off a wall in the Speer’s Lane area of the town. It is understood that she sat down on the wall for a rest, but fell backwards.

Although she was still alive when gardaí arrived at the scene, she died shortly afterwards.

It is understood that the woman was from Monaghan and was visiting Letterkenny with her husband who was with her when the tragedy happened.