Engineers Ireland has expressed its sympathy to the family of the late Michael Ryan, an engineer with the United Nations World Food Programme. Michael who was a native of Lahinch, Co Clare, died when the Ethiopian Airlines plane he was travelling in from Ethiopia to Kenya, crashed resulting in the deaths of all 157 passengers and crew. Caroline Spillane, director general of Engineers Ireland, said: “On behalf of all our member-engineers, I express our deepest sympathy to the family of the late Michael Ryan. "As deputy chief engineer with the UN World Food Programme, Michael combined his professionalism and skill with compassion to support vulnerable communities overseas and had dedicated his career to undertaking this work, much of it in challenging circumstances. “Working with this leading humanitarian organisation, this courageous young man used his engineering qualification to do extremely rewarding work, improving and changing the lives of individuals and communities in greatest need. “We express our deepest sympathy at this very sad time to his wife and children, his mother, sisters, brother and extended family.”