Gardaí in Westmeath are liaising with the family of a couple in their 50s from the Athlone area who are believed to have died in a terrorist attack on a beach in Tunisia yesterday.
Interpol and the Department of Foreign Affairs have been in contact with gardaí as officials work to confirm the identity of the couple.
It is believed the only daughter of the couple has been in constant communication with gardaí and the Tunisian authorities throughout the day.
One Irish person has been confirmed so far among the 38 victims killed yesterday afternoon when a gunman opened fire at a beach resort in Sousse.
Lorna Carty, a mother of two, from Robinstown in Co Meath is believed to have been on the beach when the attack began.
She was in the resort with her husband Declan, who was uninjured, but said to be "absolutely distraught".
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has said it will take a period of time to complete a full and formal identification of the victims of the attack.
He said the Irish Ambassador to Spain and Consul are working closely with the authorities in Tunisia.
Meanwhile, the number of Britons confirmed to have died in the attack has risen to 15.
One Belgian and one German national have also been confirmed dead.
A further 39 people are said to have been wounded in the attack, which has been claimed by the so-called Islamic State group.
Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said reserve troops would be called up to reinforce security at "sensitive sites... and places that could be targets of terrorist attacks" after the massacre, the second against tourists in Tunisia this year.
The "exceptional plan to better secure tourist and archaeological sites" will include "deploying armed tourist security officers all along the coast and inside hotels from 1 July," he added.
He also announced that a national anti-terrorism congress would be held in September and that financial rewards would be given to anyone who comes forward with information leading to the capture of any terrorists.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Irish people planning on travelling to Tunisia or who may already be in the country to follow the advice of the Tunisian authorities and maintain contact with tour organisers.
Anyone who may have concerns about family or friends in Tunisia should contact 01-4082000.
Irish embassy staff, including Irish Ambassador to Spain David Cooney, who is also accredited with Tunisia, arrived in Sousse late Friday night to provide consular assistance to citizens caught up in the attack.
In a statement, Meath GAA has confirmed that all matches and training involving Dunderry and Kilmessan have been cancelled until further notice following the killing of Ms Carty in Tunisia.
Her son Simon is part of the Meath senior panel and was a member of the county's U-21 team, while Ms Carty was very involved in the GAA and with her local club Dunderry.
The Leinster SFC semi-final match between Meath and Westmeath in Croke Park tomorrow will go ahead as scheduled.
Glanbia chairman Henry Corbally expressed sympathy to the Carty family.
"This is a terrible tragedy to afflict a highly respected and popular farming family.
"On behalf of all members of Glanbia, I wish to express my deepest sympathy to Lorna’s husband Declan and their children Simon and Hazel."
The gunman was a 23-year-old student who disguised himself as a tourist and began firing at holidaymakers on a beach using a Kalashnikov he had hidden in a beach umbrella.
The student, identified as Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani, was reportedly laughing as he carried out the massacre and deliberately selected western tourists, before being shot dead by police.
'Four hours of hell'
Meanwhile, Irish holidaymakers who returned on Friday night from Tunisia described scenes of chaos during the attack at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel.
Many described a large explosion as well as gunfire and praised hotel staff for helping them.
Marian King from Lucan, who was staying in the hotel, said the last four hours of their holiday had turned into hell.
Speaking at Dublin airport after the Aer Lingus flight from Monastir arrived home she said she and her family had managed to get into a hotel bedroom when the shooting started.
"People were running down the corridors screaming to be let into bedrooms". She described hearing more shooting and hiding in the bathroom for about two hours until after it had it subsided.
Anthony and Betty Tunstead from Glasnevin Avenue in Dublin were part of a group of four who cut their holiday short to come home last night.
Ms Tunstead described screaming and chaos as the shooting started.
"We went into one room and kept there for a while. I came back out and here's a boyo in the lobby with a machine gun.
"We didn’t make eye contact because he was looking to see where he was jumping off the parapet. He didn't see me."
Ms Tunstead said had it been a different day they might not have escaped alive. She said they normally met up with a couple from Meath and would have been sitting with them had they not been about to move hotel.
The group she was with expressed concern for another Irish couple they had been with at the hotel who they believed had been caught up in the shooting, and who they had not heard from.
Cathy Piper from Wicklow was having a beer on the beach when the attack began around noon and says she saw an attacker.
"I saw him from a distance - a guy dressed in black walking along the beach.
She followed a staff member in a side door to safety. "The hotel staff were great. They ran to the creche to get the kids out."
Patricia Sheehan from Dungarvan who was in a hotel 2km from the scene said she contacted the Irish authorities in Dublin, and they kept in contact with her through the day.
"We didn’t have any male members of our family with us so we felt a little bit unsafe. I was trying to put people in the complex at ease and keep them up to date," she said.
Denis Purcell from Glasnevin described having to comfort an English man whose fiancée was killed. "We were around him talking to him.
"He was devastated trying to find out was she brought to a hospital. It was killing him to think she was still lying inside the hotel."
Mr Purcell said the Tunisian prime minister visited the hotel.
"There was more security for the prime minister than came to the hotel after the explosions," he said.
