An Irish aid worker is feared to have died in Sunday's Kenya Airways crash off the Ivory Coast in West Africa, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Ms Daphne Kilroe (57), originally from Co Roscommon, had been en route to Uganda to begin a six-month programme with victims of HIV and AIDS on behalf of the overseas government agency APSO. The chief executive of the agency, Mr Paul Beggan, confirmed that Ms Kilroe, a community health specialist, was among those listed as missing. "The news was a great shock," he said.
The nurse has not been found among survivors of Flight 431, which fell into the sea with 179 people on board.
Ten survivors were found in the Atlantic off West Africa hours after the airbus went into the sea. According to reports, it crashed one minute after taking off from Abidjan airport destined for Lagos, Nigeria. Ms Kilroe had been due to catch another plane a few days earlier, but phoned APSO officials to tell them she had missed it and would be arriving later than planned.
More than 80 bodies have been recovered and the search was continuing yesterday.
Mr Beggan described the mother of two as "an extraordinary character".
"This is a tragic loss of someone who was so committed to improving public health services in the developing world.
"Daphne made herself available not only to APSO but also to many other organisations and communities, particularly in Africa where she worked with great energy and professionalism. Daphne will be greatly missed by her family and her many friends from around the world," he said.
Ms Kilroe had a masters degree in public health and had completed aid work with a number of agencies including Trocaire in the Maldives, Somalia, Ghana and Rwanda. She had recently moved to Cheshire, England.
Trocaire's head of overseas service, , Mr Eamonn Meehan, said staff at the agency were "shocked and saddened" at the news. Ms Kilroe worked with the agency for eight months in Rwanda in 1996 and a few weeks ago she had made plans to undertake a Trocaire community health project in Somalia.