Three Irish people are now believed to have died in the terrorist attack on a beach in Tunisia.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has confirmed that his department understands an Irish man and woman were among the victims of the shooting in Sousse. They are believed to be a couple from the Athlone area.

Mayor of Athlone Cllr Tom Farrell says the community is devastated by the news:

One Irish person - Lorna Carty from Meath - was earlier confirmed has having lost her life along with 37 others.

Consular assistance is being offered to the families affected.

Minister Charlie Flanagan has asked for their privacy to be respected:

Dr Anis Hamza is Director of a hospital in Sousse - he says all medical staff in the area have been mobilised:

The President of the Irish Travel Agents Association, Martin Skelly, says some people due to fly out to Tunisia yesterday decided to change their travel plans:

Islamic State claimed responsibility after a gunman opened fire on a beach full of holidaymakers.

Irish mother-of-two Lorna Carty, from Robinstown, Co Meath, was killed in the attack. Family friends said she had taken her husband on holiday to help him recover from heart surgery.

She is survived by her husband Declan, son Simon, daughter Hazel, her parents and siblings.

Ms Carty was a practicing nurse and first aid officer for Dunderry GAA Club - Billy Bligh is club secretary:

The UK has suffered most fatalities, with 15 Britons confirmed dead.

Foreign minister Tobias Ellwood said that the number was still expected to rise.

He called it the "most significant attack on the British people" since the July 7 attacks in 2005, when 52 people were killed by four suicide bombers.

Tunisian Prime Minister Essid told a news conference: "The majority are British. After come the Germans, then the Belgians and then other nationalities," he said, adding that there were also French victims.

In the wake of the attack the British Prime Minister David Cameron said Islamist terrorism would be defeated.

Mr Cameron says there is no place in the modern world for this kind of extremism:

Islamic State

In a statement on social media, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Tunisian attack and released photos they said showed the gunman.

"Our brother, the soldier of the Caliphate, Abu Yahya al Qayrawani, reached his target the Imperial hotel despite the security measures," the statement said. It said he had attacked a "bordel" and killed 40 "infidels".

Terrified families ran for their lives on Friday as the killer, wearing shorts and hiding a Kalashnikov inside an umbrella, started shooting in Port el Kantaoui on the outskirts of Sousse.

He then entered the Imperial Marhaba hotel through the swimming pool area, shooting and throwing an explosive as he went, according to witnesses.

A security source said another bomb was found on his body, which lay with his assault rifle in the street where he was shot.

In the aftermath of the attack, the dead bodies of tourists lay crumpled on sunbeds on the beach and dozens more were injured.

Worried relatives took to social media to appeal for help tracing family members who had been staying in the resort.

Doctor Anis Hamza, the medical director at a hospital at the resort, says they treated many casualties:

Rafik Chelli, a senior interior ministry official, said the gunman killed was unknown to authorities and not on any watchlist of potential jihadists.

A security source named him as Saifeddine Rezgui, a 23-year-old electrical engineering student.

Local radio said police captured a second gunman, but officials did not immediately confirm the arrest or his role in the attack.

Mr Essid said his government plans within a week to close down 80 mosques that remain outside state control, for inciting violence, and crack down on financing for certain associations, as a countermeasure.

The attack took place during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, on a day in which a decapitated body daubed with Arabic writing was found in France, a suicide bomber killed two dozen people at a mosque in Kuwait and at least 145 civilians were reported killed by Islamic State militants in northern Syria.