POLICE have charged a 28-year-old Clovelly man with manslaughter, reckless wounding and assault following the death of an Irish backpacker in Sydney's south.

He is due to appear before Parramatta Court tomorrow via videolink in connection with the death of Gearoid Walsh, 23.

Mr Walsh died in hospital on Thursday night after being injured in an altercation at a Coogee takeaway shop on October 25.

The charged man has been refused bail, police said.

Walsh's mum earlier said she didn't want the person responsible jailed.

Tressa Walsh saidshe doesn't hold a grudge against the man who punched her son.

Mr Walsh had been working in Brisbane before coming to Sydney last weekend to celebrate his sister Aoife's 22nd birthday.

By the end of Sunday night Mr Walsh was in hospital on life support after being punched at a Coogee takeaway shop, falling to the ground and suffering head injuries. He never regained consciousness.

"I'd really like to say as a mother, I really feel for this guy who got into a fight with Gearoid," Ms Walsh told reporters today, supported by her son's older brother Ciaran, 27, after flying from Dublin on Wednesday.

"I am heartbroken for him because we don't blame him, we don't want him to serve time in prison. I feel he was just very, very unlucky.

"Myself and my family are appealing for him to come forward and get closure on this and some peace. We don't want him to torture himself over this.

"I don't see this as a murder. Gearoid was very tall, he was six foot two and had a long way to fall. Even though Gearoid was a big guy, he wasn't a fighter at all."

Police arrested a 28-year-old Clovelly man today after he handed himself into Maroubra police station at 4.30pm (AEDT).

"The man presented himself to the police this afternoon following an emotional public appeal this morning from Gearoid's mother," a police statement said.

Police have not released details of an argument between Mr Walsh and his attacker, saying only that the pair did not know each other before the night.

"It's obviously a very serious matter - a young man is dead - we are now treating this as a homicide investigation," Acting Superintendent Shayne Woolbank told reporters.

News of Mr Walsh's attack is reminiscent of the bashing in August last year of Irish tourist David Keohane, now aged 30, in the same eastern Sydney suburb.

The flooring contractor was left suffering serious head injuries at Coogee after a night out.
He was flown home to Ireland, still unconscious, the next month and woke in April this year.

However, Supt Woolbank denied tourists were being targeted and said there was no link between the assaults.

There's no evidence of "a group of people running around Coogee Bay targeting a certain race or nationality", he said.

News.com.au