Young couple died at Dublin hotel after attending wedding

A nine-week-old boy has been orphaned following the tragic deaths of his young parents at a south Dublin hotel last Sunday.

Gardaí have described as "sudden" the deaths at the Tara Towers Hotel in Booterstown of the 28-year-old woman and her 27-year-old boyfriend.

The couple, whose son was born nine weeks ago and was christened in recent weeks, had attended a wedding reception at another hotel on Saturday. They arrived at the Tara Towers together at about 3.30 am on Sunday.

It is understood that the man jumped from the sixth floor of the hotel on Sunday shortly after phoning the reception desk in a state of panic to say he had awoken to find his girlfriend dead in bed beside him.

According to sources, the woman was found dead in the couple's hotel room by gardaí who were called to the scene.

The man is believed to have plunged 27 metres (90 feet) to his death from another room after the gardaí arrived.

While gardaí would not officially comment on reports that cocaine was involved in the death of the woman, a Garda source said there was evidence of cocaine at the scene. An official with the hotel declined to comment on the incident.

A family friend said yesterday that both families were devastated by the deaths.

The friend described the man as "the nicest young fellow you could meet" and the woman as "a beautiful girl".

Members of the man's family were at the All-Ireland football semi-final match between Dublin and Mayo on Sunday when they learned of the tragedy, the friend added.

The man and woman who died were believed to be from Clondalkin.

The woman had another son from a previous relationship and was an only daughter with two brothers. The man was one of a family of four boys from a neighbouring estate.