Council worker who died during Storm Eunice cleanup named as Billy Kinsella

A statement from gardaí said: "It is understood that a man, aged in his 60s, was injured as a result of a falling tree. The man was later pronounced deceased at the scene."

The county council worker who was killed by a falling tree in Wexford during Storm Eunice has been named.

He was 59-year-old Billy Kinsella from the Ballythomas area and lived just three miles away from where he died.

More than 12,000 customers remained without power overnight with the majority of outages being in west Cork, Kerry, and Enniscorthy in Wexford.

A yellow snow and ice warning was in place overnight until 10am this morning.

The council confirmed in a statement to the Irish Examiner that Mr Kinsella "was fatally injured earlier today in a workplace accident".

Gardaí confirmed that they attended the scene where Mr Kinsella was injured in the North Wexford area. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His body has been removed to Waterford University Hospital where a post-mortem will take place in due course.

Tributes were paid to him last night as the cleanup and repair operation following Storm Eunice continued.

Wexford County Council confirmed the news "with deep regret and sadness", adding that his family had been informed. 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee’s family, work colleagues and friends at this very difficult time."

Local Fianna Fail councillor Donal Kenny said he had known the dead man for more than three decades. He described him as a good hard worker who was a quiet person.

Mayor of County Wexford, Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy, said the county has been stunned by the death.

And she said: “We take for granted the work people do, whether they be paramedics, gardaí or council staff.”

Storm Eunice swept across the country in the early hours of Friday with weather warnings in place until Saturday morning.

It brought very strong onshore winds, with mean wind speeds of 106km/h and the highest gusts recorded at Roches Point of 137km/h.