The 24-year-old had been in a coma since she fell ill at the weekend. She passed away on Thursday afternoon. A statement from her family said she died in the arms of her sister Jill with her mother and father alongside.

Traces of cocaine were found during a medical examination earlier this week while Katy lay in a coma.

Writing in today's Sunday Independent Eilis O'Hanlon says, " there are moments which almost feel emblematic of a culture at a particular point in time......as the end - if that is what it is - of the Celtic Tiger creeps up on us, last weekend's events .......could almost sum up where it all went wrong for a generation ..."

Cocaine-fuelled hedonism has taken a hold of many in the new Ireland - Katy's demise provides us with a salutary tale.