The body of Lucy Coyle, one of the two Irish people missing since the Asian tsunami disaster, has been identified in Thailand, nearly four months after the tragedy.
Ms Coyle (28), an accountant from Killiney, Co Dublin, was staying in a beach hut in a resort on Phi-Phi Island when the tsunami hit on St Stephen's day last year.
She arrived in Thailand the week before Christmas with her Welsh-born boyfriend, Sean Sweetman. They had lived in Bath in England.
She is the third Irish person to have been confirmed dead following the tsunami. A fourth, Michael Murphy (23), from Ballyconnigar, Co Wexford, is still missing. He was in Khao Lak, one of the worst-affected areas and had last spoken to his family on Chistmas Day.
Yesterday a spokesman for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, said the Minister was "very pleased that the Coyle family's long ordeal has come to an end.
"We're grateful to everyone who helped, putting in the long hours in the process of identifying bodies. The Minister's thoughts are still with the family of Michael Murphy from Wexford," the spokesman said.
Lucy Coyle's body was identified using DNA and dental records brought out to Thailand by a team of gardaí helping in an international effort to identify thousands of foreign nationals missing since the tsunami struck.
A Disaster Victim Identification centre has been in operation in Phuket since early January and is staffed by an international team of police officers and forensic scientists.
Last month a senior Garda officer, Det Supt John O'Driscoll, visited the centre and brought DNA, dental and fingerprint information provided by the Coyle and Murphy families.
In February he led a team of Garda officers to Thailand to help in the search for both victims. Officials from the Irish Embassy in Malaysia have also been closely involved in the search.
The bodies of the first two victims were identified in January.
Eilis Finnegan (27) also died on Phi Phi island. The former flight attendant had just arrived in the resort with her boyfriend when the massive wave hit.
The second victim was 31-year-old Conor Keightly from Cookstown, Co Tyrone. His body was identified after less than three weeks.