The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the family of a young Irish man who took ill and died while on a skiing trip with a group of friends in France at the weekend.

The young man has been named locally in Cork as Cian O’Brien (20) from Gleann na Rí in Tower near Blarney and he died after taking ill on Sunday night at the French ski resort of Alpe d’Huez.

Mr O’Brien, who was working as an electrical apprentice with a pharmaceutical company in Cork, was with a group of friends who had gone to France with the Cork Snow Sports Society.

It’s understood Mr O’Brien had been socialising with his friends on Sunday night and went to bed, but his roommates were unable to rouse him on Monday morning and raised the alarm.

The emergency services were alerted but they were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead by a local doctor. A postmortem is scheduled for later in the week.

Some 350 young people from Cork had gone to France with the society, which was formed in University College Cork some years ago but is not an officially funded college society.

It’s understood Mr O’Brien’s parents, Paul and Sabrina, who also have an older daughter, Lauren, had just returned to Cork from a holiday in Spain when they learned of the tragedy.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is assisting the family, and it’s understood the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust is also assisting the family as they seek to have their son’s remains brought home.

Local Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan said the community in Tower and Blarney were shocked at the news as the family were well known through their involvement in Blarney United soccer club.

Cian’s father had coached at the soccer club while Cian, who went to school at Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal in Blarney, had played with the club as well as with Blarney GAA club.

“Everyone was shocked at the news – Cian was well known and well liked and the family would have been very involved with Blarney United so there’s a real sadness about the place today.

“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare for something like this to happen, and away from home and all,” Cllr Boylan said. “It is so sad. My deepest sympathies are with his family.”

Another person involved with Blarney United described him “as a lovely young fellow – he was just a really nice kid – and this is going to hit his buddies hard. He was so popular.

“Everyone who was in Cian’s year in school in Blarney are devastated. It’s shocking, it’s awful and all the pals are just devastated.”