Updated at 12.00
TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to a young Irish athlete who lost her life over the weekend.
A talented 400-metre runner with Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club, 20-year-old Joanna Duignan was also studying law at Dublin City University.
The club released a statement on Monday revealing that the Leitrim native had passed away suddenly before going on to describe her as “a lovely, genuine person”.
“It is with a sense of profound sadness and deep shock that we let the Carrick-on-Shannon Athletic Club family know of the sudden and untimely passing of our friend Joanna Duignan,” the statement reads.
There are simply no words to convey the sense of loss that our athletes, our coaches and their families are feeling right now as the news that Joanna is no longer with us sinks in ever so slowly and ever so terribly.
“A fantastic athlete with a willingness to work hard, what marked Joanna out most of all was not her athletics achievements but the fact that she was a lovely genuine person who always had time for everyone — no matter how young or how old, Joanna’s friendly, outgoing nature saw her make time for everyone and we lost count of the amount of times she helped out our younger athletes.
“The loss we feel today is nothing compared to the loss of her family, her parents Philip and Theresa and brothers Daniel, Aaron and Keith, her relatives and extended family and many friends.
“There are no words to convey our deepest sympathy to them at this time – all we can do is offer our support and our love as we remember our friend Joanna.”
Athletics Ireland were among those paying their respects on social media this morning:
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