A MARRIED couple killed in a gun attack in Tunisia were "soulmates", mourners at the funeral of Larry and Martina Hayes heard yesterday
The couple, who were in their fifties and from Co Westmeath, were among 38 people killed when a gunman attacked a beach resort in Sousse on Friday June 26.
Their only child, 30-year-old daughter Sinéad led mourners in to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Athlone where Fr Liam Devine described how the loving couple "went everywhere together".
The priest said the killings had stunned "the country and beyond.
"God's tears mingle with Irish, Tunisian, British,?German and Belgian tears and all those affected by last Friday's tragic deaths," Fr Devine said.
"The violence is now at our own door.
"Violence is not a solution to any problem. It was not the solution to Northern Ireland's problems and it is not the solution to today's world problems."
The funeral for the other Irish victim, Lorna Carty, from Co Meath, will take place today.
Also in her fifties, she was on holiday with her husband Declan when 28-year-old Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui gunned down on the beach.
Tunisian authorities are holding eight suspects in custody on suspicion of being directly linked to the attack, which jihadist group Islamic State has claimed.
Four others who had been held have since been released.
Scotland Yard says its investigation into the attack is likely to be one of the largest counter-terrorism deployments since the London 7/7 bombings in 2005, which killed 52.
The Tunisian ambassador to the UK Nabil Ammar, embassy staff and members of the Tunisian community living in Britain observed a one minute's silence outside the Tunisian embassy during an official day of mourning one week after the deadly attack.
Flags were lowered to half-staff at Buckingham Palace and UK government buildings as Britain and Tunisia honoured the 38 victims.
