A 23-year-old Irish man is on a life-support machine in hospital after being seriously injured in an assault in Australia over the weekend.
Local media reports say Gearoid Walsh was assaulted in the Sydney suburb of Coogee on Sunday night.
The police believe he had been drinking in hotels in the area before becoming involved in an argument with a man in a take-away food outlet.
Mr Walsh had just arrived in Australia a month ago on a working visa.
His mother arrived in Sydney yesterday.