The missing Irish

Eilis Finnegan:  27-year-old Ms Eilis Finnegan from Ballyfermot in Dublin was on Phi Phi island off the west coast of Thailand with her boyfriend, Mr Barry Murphy, when the tsunami struck.

They had only just arrived on the ferry from Phuket a few minutes earlier and were eating breakfast when the waves hit. The couple had worked together at United Airlines in Clontarf and had been going out since September of last year. They had initially planned to go to Argentina for a three-week Christmas holiday but could not get flights.

Mr Murphy told newspapers yesterday that Ms Finnegan was running ahead of him away from the waves when he stopped to help a little boy of around four. He said that he and the little boy were washed into a building and that he lost contact with her.

Lucy Coyle: Ms Lucy Coyle, from Killiney in Dublin, was staying in a beach hut in a resort on Phi Phi island when the tsunami hit.

The 29-year-old accountant had arrived in Thailand with her Welsh-born boyfriend, Mr Sean Sweetman, during the week before Christmas.

The couple live in Bath in England and work for a company called Eidos in London.

Conor Keightley:  The family of Mr Conor Keightley - whose 31st birthday fell on New Year's Eve - from Cookstown, Co Tyrone, said he returned safely from a boat trip near Phi Phi in Thailand on Christmas Day, but that there has been no word of him since.

His father, Mr Dermot Keightley said: "We are still hoping and praying that maybe he is injured somewhere and is unable to contact us, or that he is suffering from amnesia. We haven't given up hope," said Mr Keightley. He said that one of his son's friends who had joined him on the Christmas Day boat trip had said Conor had returned safely to Phi Phi. They were both staying in separate units in an apartment block. "That fellow hid behind a wall when the wave came through but was still washed away. He was lucky to survive," said Mr Keightley.

Michael Murphy: Mr Michael Murphy from Ballyconigar, Co Wexford, was on Khao Lak, an area on the west coast of Thailand that was badly affected by the tsunami, when he last contacted his family.

It is understood that Mr Murphy, who is a 23-year-old science graduate, phoned his family on Christmas Day.

A family member was reported yesterday as saying that Mr Murphy had also sent a text message to a cousin late on Christmas night but that no contact had been heard from him since.