LAST UPDATE | 23 Jul 2024

TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to 11-year-old Clodagh Phelan who died in Majorca, Spain after falling from a balcony at her hotel in Alcudia yesterday.  

Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was saddened to “hear of the tragic loss of Clodagh Phelan”.

“So much promise and personality snatched away in a terrible accident,” said Harris, who added that his “thoughts are with her family and community at this truly awful time”.

Meanwhile, Parnell Athletic Club, based in Co Wicklow, said it is “truly heartbroken to share the devastating news of the passing of Clodagh Phelan”.

Clodagh was one of Parnell AC’s juveniles athletes.

Family friend and Chairman of Parnell AC, Billy Porter, described Clodagh as a “bubbly” child while speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland. 

“It’s a devastating blow to all her coaches and all the kids involved, it’s going to be hard for the next week or two on everybody really,” he said.

He told the programme that she had been involved in athletics from the age of five and had won many county medals in all her sports.

“It’s fierce hard to come to terms with someone who is [so] bubbly, [with] such a smile and such a lovely young girl to be snatched away like that.”

Parnell AC described Clodagh as a “beautiful, spirited child and a great athlete who excelled in many sports, not just athletics”.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Civil Guard confirmed to The Journal that Clodagh had fallen while her parents were sleeping.

Local media reported that Clodagh had fallen from the seventh floor of the hotel Club Mac, where she had been staying with her family. 

The incident occurred at approximately 6:30am yesterday morning, local media reported. 

“The case is being investigated,” the spokesperson said, adding that someone staying at the hotel had found the body and reported the matter to the Civil Guard.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs told The Journal that it is aware of the case and is providing consular advice to the family.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper