A 23-year-old woman was mauled to death in a suspected XL bully dog attack on her birthday, police said.

Nicole Morey had been out celebrating her birthday before she was attacked by a dog outside a house in Ballyneety, Co Limerick, at around 11.40pm on Tuesday.

Paramedics treated Morey at the scene but she succumbed to her injuries. Her body was taken to University Hospital Limerick for a post-mortem examination.

Gardaí said they encountered “a number of aggressive dogs” at the scene, one of which has since been put down.

Several others have been seized by the dog warden, one of which is understood to be an XL bully, though Gardaí are still working to identify the precise breeds involved.

Brigid Teefy, a local councillor, described the incident as “terrible”.

“I was talking to people on the phone and everybody is horrified,” she said. “It’s a horrific story. It’s so rare that there’s an occurrence like that.”

Another councillor, Conor Sheehan, said the incident was “very, very tragic” and said that his sympathies go out to the woman’s family.

Councillor Adam Teskey also sent his condolences, and said there was shock among locals.

“This is a harrowing moment in our community,” he said.

The attack has reignited the debate over whether Ireland should follow the UK and ban XL bully dogs.

‘More action is required’

Heather Humphreys, the Irish rural minister, who recently set up a group to examine dog control, said she was “appalled” by the “deeply shocking incident”.

In a statement, she said: “I have consistently said that more action is required in relation to dog control.

“That’s why I have set up a cross-governmental stakeholder group, chaired by the retired deputy Garda commissioner John Twomey, to examine this whole area.”

She said she has asked the group to examine the restricted breeds list and whether Ireland should follow the example of the UK and Northern Ireland.

“If they recommend to me that we should ban a particular breed, I’m happy to do that. But I want to let them carry out their work because there’s a number of different views and different approaches on this and I want to make sure we get it right.”

There are several restricted breeds in Ireland, including German shepherds, rottweilers and various bull terriers, as well as some crosses.

Restricted dogs must be kept collared with their owner’s information on a tag, muzzled in public and on a short, strong lead with someone over the age of 16 who is able to control them.