Two Cork plane crash victims named

Two of the six people killed in this morning's plane crash in Cork have been named.

Two of the six people killed in this morning's plane crash in Cork have been named.

One of those killed was Pat Cullinan, a partner in the Belfast office of the accountancy firm KPMG.

Mr Cullinan was from Omagh, Co Tyrone. He joined KPMG in 1989 and qualified in 1993. He worked in London for several years before joining the Dublin office in 2002. He then moved back to Belfast where he was appointed partner in 2005.

The firm's managing partner, Terence O’Rourke, said Mr Cullinan's death had come as a shock to everyone who knew him.

READ MORE

"Pat was an extremely talented professional and a real gentleman. He was highly regarded by all of his colleagues and clients, and his tragic and untimely death has come as a shock to everyone in the firm, especially to those in our Belfast office and to all who knew Pat as an exceptional friend and colleague," he said.

Another victim was named locally as Brendan McAleese, a businessman from Cookstown, Co Tyrone, and a first cousin of Martin McAleese, the husband of the President Mary McAleese.

One of the survivors has been named as Donal Walsh, a volunteer for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in Ireland. He had been returning from Christian events in Belfast.

Director of the organisation Adam Jones said he received a reassuring text message from Mr Walsh shortly after the incident. “I am fine with very minor injuries all things considered. Thank God,” it said.

In a statement this evening, gardaí said those killed in the crash were three men from the North, two men resident elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and a male Spanish national. The formal confirmation of all the victims' identities is unlikely before tomorrow.