Ireland observes three-minute silence for tsunami victims

Thousands of people throughout Ireland have taken part in a three-minute silence for the victims of the St Stephen's Day tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean.

The initiative, which was part of an EU-wide silence, took place at 11am.

Almost 150,000 people are known to have died in the December 26 disaster, but thousands more are still missing and feared dead.

The body of one Irish person, 27-year-old Dubliner Eilis Finnegan, was found among the dead in Thailand last night. Another three Irish nationals are still missing in the south-east Asian country.

The International Red Cross has estimated that the final toll could reach around 187,000.