Search for backpacker continues

A search has begun for an Irish man who went missing from his home in Australia at the weekend.

The sisters of Sean Walsh (26), from Dungarvon, Co Waterford, have flown to Sydney to join in the search.

Mr Walsh went missing from his home in Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Sunday. He was last seen by his flatmates at about 3am that morning.

Mr Walsh was due to fly home to Waterford on Tuesday but failed to turn up at the airport.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Sean's sister Brid Walsh said that it was very unlike their brother not to have been in touch with family members.

"He has a very close relationship with my mother and the rest of us, and is in regular contact. For him to go missing like that is completely out of character," said Ms Walsh.

"It doesn't make any sense to any of us. We have no explanation at all. We have nothing to follow through as to why this has happened.

"This is the first time [in his trip] that we haven't been able to contact him. He's usually in contact once or twice a week - [via] e-mail, Facebook, everything," she added.

An extensive air and land search of the local area by Police has failed to uncover any sign of the missing man. Sydney police say they have "serious concerns" for the welfare of Mr Walsh.

He is described as being 175cm tall with a thin build, shaved brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was last seen wearing khaki boardshorts, a khaki hooded jumper and flip-flops.

A website has been set up to help in the search for Mr Walsh and a number of appeals have also been published on social networking sites including Bebo, Twitter and Facebook.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the family.