Three Irish students unharmed in US shooting

At least three Irish exchange students were unharmed during yesterday's gun rampage on a university campus in the US state of Virginia.

A jilted lover is believe to have shot his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend before opening fire on students at the Polytechnic Institute, leaving 32 people dead. He also killed himself.

UCD has confirmed that three Irish engineering students, all third-year undergraduates, were in the college taking part in a science exchange programme.

The university says it has made contact with all three, who are safe and well, and has offered to fly them home.

However, they have decided to stay on and complete the term.

The mother of one of the three, Nicola Greene from Gorey in Co Wexford, said she was still waiting to find out if any of her wider group of friends was caught up in the shooting.

"They were all isolated in their dorms for the remainder of the day, the quarters are quite tight and they have very little facilities, so they were getting tired and stressed," she said.