Tributes paid to Cork student following tragic killing

THE student who died after being stabbed on Bandon Road last night has been named locally as Cameron Blair, from outside Clonakilty.

Tributes have been paid to Cameron Blair, the student who died after being stabbed on Bandon Road last night

The 20-year-old attended Cork Institute of Technology and was a former student of Bandon Grammar School.

CIT have extended their sympathies to Cameron's family and said that he was a "valued member of our CIT community".

A Garda on duty near the house on the Bandon Road, Cork.. Picture: Dan Linehan

In a statement, Dr Barry O’Connor, President Cork Institute of Technology, said that they will be offering counselling and other supports for the student's classmates and will work with the CIT Students' Union to help others cope with the tragedy.

"I am confident that our UCC colleagues will also be putting supports in place for their students who are also traumatised by this fatality."

The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton, said this morning that the tragic death of Cameron "shocked everyone in Cork and further afield."

Cameron Blair. Pic: Gavin Browne

In a statement this morning, he said: “I now know, this morning, that he was Cameron Blair, a young person from this Church of Ireland Diocese, who attended Bandon Grammar School, and who was confirmed by me in 2013 in Saint Peter’s Church, Bandon. He was well-known in his local community, including as a rugby player and athlete.”

He added: “My wife Susan and I share the shock of everyone who lives in this neighbourhood, particularly the student community who are so much at the heart of this area.

"Having had student children myself, I know well that a calamity such as this on a night out is every parent’s worst nightmare.”

He said his heart goes out to the family of the CIT student, friends and peers, who died at Cork University Hospital after receiving a stab wound to the neck.

He concluded: “I know everyone in Cork and further afield is terribly shocked by Cameron’s death. On behalf of everyone living in this part of Cork, and on behalf of us all in the Church of Ireland community in Cork, Cloyne and Ross I send them our sincerest condolences.”

Bandon Athletics Club, of which Cameron was a member, said n a statement this morning: "He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam".