A 23-year-old from Co Meath has been killed while fighting in Ukraine.
The Irish Times reports the family of Rory Mason have confirmed he died on Wednesday, September 28th.
Mr Mason, from Dunboyne, was killed while fighting in the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine as a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
He had been fighting in the Kharkiv region, near the Russian border, when he died.
The Irish Examiner reports that Mr Mason enlisted at the outset of the war earlier this year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
The Mason family learned of Rory's death from the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is providing consular assistance.
A statement from his family said that while they are "deeply saddened at his death, we are enormously proud of his courage and determination and his selflessness in immediately enlisting to support Ukraine".
His father Rob said Rory "was a private young man of drive, purpose and conviction".
"Though we are deeply saddened at his death, we are enormously proud of his courage and determination and his selflessness in immediately enlisting to support Ukraine," he said.
"Rory was never political but he had a deep sense of right and wrong and an inability to turn the other way in the face of injustice. He had a long-standing interest in Eastern Europe, in travel and in learning new languages, including Russian.
"Those who fought alongside Rory speak of a truly brave and courageous man who could have left at any time but chose not to. In the words of a colleague who served with him, 'Rory was a man who from a glance could seem shy however when it came to actions and character he proved again and again he was a man of fortitude, principal and honour'.
"Rory was our son and we will miss him enormously. As our family is still trying to come to terms with Rory’s death, we would appeal for privacy at this difficult time."
Before the war, Mr Mason had been working in Germany.
He attended Dunboyne National School and St Peter's College in Dunboyne.
