AN IRISH WOMAN shot and left in critical condition in hospital in Australia has been named locally as Eileen Gibbons. 

Northern Territory Police said they received reports at around 6.30pm on Tuesday of an injured man and woman at a property in Millner, a suburb in the city of Darwin. 

The 38-year-old woman, who has been named locally as Eileen Gibbons from Castlebar in Co Mayo, was taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Police have said she is in critical condition.

The 35-year-old man was declared dead at the scene and a firearm was seized closed to his person. 

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Martin McLoughlin, a Fianna Fáil councillor in Castlebar, said the news “certainly brought shock to the community in Castlebar yesterday morning”.

“There’s a lot of young people from Castlebar that have emigrated over a number of years and they went to Darwin, and quite a number of them have stayed and worked,” McLoughlin said. 

“She’s one of those who have stayed,” he said.

“There’s a good lot of Castlebar young people her age living in Darwin. I think that’s good for her and I know they would rally around, she has great friends. I know they would rally around at this awful time in her life.”

Detectives believe Gibbons and the man were known to one another. 

Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey said “multiple units” were deployed to the incident. 

He added that the police force’s major crime squad will investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths and prepare a report for the coroner. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is “aware of the care and providing consular assistance”.