Deep sadness over sudden death of AIT student

Athlone IT chaplain Fr Shay Casey said the local institute was "devastated" by the sudden passing of popular student and former Garrycastle ladies footballer Alison Smyth in the early hours of yesterday (Tuesday) morning. Alison, who was in the process of completing a PhD in chemistry, would have celebrated her 29th birthday today. The Newtowncashel native was an accomplished sportsperson who played for the Longford senior ladies' team and won a county title when she lined out for Garrycastle in 2008. It's understood that a health difficulty resulted in her taking a brief step back from her sporting involvement approximately two years ago, but she had since returned to play for the Rathcline club in Longford and also trained one of its underage county teams. Fr Shay, who celebrated a mass in memory of Alison at Athlone IT yesterday, described her as "a person who stood out from the crowd... a natural leader who was full of life and full of enthusiasm." He said she had completed her undergraduate degree at AIT, followed by a Master's in NUI Galway, and was in the final stages of her doctorate at the local institute where she also worked as a part-time technician. She had taken a three-hour practical last Friday and was "in great form" at the time. A "natural all-rounder," she was involved in swimming and basketball as well as gaelic football. Patricia Dolan, the PRO for Garrycastle ladies', said the club was deeply shocked and saddened by Alison's passing. "We are absolutely devastated. When she joined us in 2008 we were delighted. She was a fabulous girl and a fantastic footballer. She won the county title with us in 2008 and she always kept in touch since then. "She would always come to our county finals and when the Westmeath ladies team won the All-Ireland intermediate title a few weeks back she sent me a text message of congratulations just after the final whistle. That's the type of person she was. It was an absolute pleasure to have known her." Gerry Hagan, the PRO for Longford GAA, said Alison's passing was "a massive blow to her family and to the GAA. She was a great role model for ladies football both within and outside of the county." Alison's remains were taken to Tullamore hospital for a postmortem yesterday, and funeral arrangements had not yet been made at the time of going to press.