Village in mourning after sand dune death

A small, close-knit community was plunged into grief yesterday evening after news filtered out that Niamh McCarthy had died at Kerry General Hospital in Tralee.

A cloud hung over the 19-year-old’s home village of Minane Bridge, Co Cork, where people were numbed and trying to come to terms with the tragedy.

Niamh had just finished her first year studying biological and chemical science at UCC and had decided to take a break in west Kerry with some friends when a sand dune collapsed on her on Tuesday.