Two Irish people drowned while holidaying on Sardinia off the coast of Italy yesterday.
They were named last night as Ms Barbara May Reeves (25), from Pennywell in Limerick city and Mr Gerard Shane O'Brien (32), from Meelick, Co Clare.
Their deaths occurred in a swimming pool between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the three-star Hotel Oasis in Alghero, a small town on the west coast of Sardinia. One of them died at the scene, the other on the way to hospital.
They had travelled to Sardinia with Sunway Holidays. Contacted through the Hotel Oasis, a spokeswoman for Sunway Holidays said: "We can't really tell you anything because we do not know anything ourselves."
She added that the drownings were now in the hands of the Italian police who were liaising with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The spokeswoman directed all queries to the tour company's Dublin office.
The Department of Foreign Affairs was last night contacting the relatives of Ms Reeves and Mr O'Brien. In a statement Sunway Holidays extended its condolences to their families.
The company would not comment on the circumstances surrounding the two deaths.
Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, is becoming a popular holiday destination for Irish people.
In recent years there has been much investment in tourist infrastructure, particularly in the north and on the west coast near Alghero, where the man and woman died.