Appeal for aid in canal death

GARDAÍ in Co Laois are still appealing for witnesses to Saturday evening’s tragedy in which a mother drowned after falling into the Grand Canal.

Named locally as Yvonne O’Shea, the woman, in her 30s, is understood to have been helping her partner push their car off the road after it broke down, when she lost her footing and went into the water.

Her partner, George Lawlor from Athy in Co Kildare, dived into the canal in an attempt to rescue her, but eventually had to be pulled from the water himself by gardaí who arrived at the scene.