A 21-year-old Irish woman has died from swine flu while on holiday in Spain.

Richie, a hairdresser, from the Four Winds area of south Belfast, died after becoming ill on holiday. She had been diagnosed with pneumonia and swine flu.

Richie, who was holidaying in the Spanish resort island of Ibiza, was flown by air ambulance to a Barcelona hospital where she had underwent an emergency liver transplant.

Richie’s family are devastated by their daughter's death.

They had been keeping vigil by her hospital bedside since she fell ill with the virus two weeks ago.

Richie was a former student at St Dominic’s in west Belfast where tributes were paid this weekend by former teachers and classmates.