Ireland

Priest urges mourners to make Ireland's roads safer

Donegal road accident victim Nathan Farrell
Donegal road accident victim Nathan Farrell Donegal road accident victim Nathan Farrell

A survivor of a crash which killed two teenagers in Co Donegal was among the readers at the funeral of one of the victims yesterday.

Nathan Farrell (18) died when the car he and four friends were travelling in left the main Derry to Moville road early on Saturday.

Following his funeral at St Mary’s Church, Cockhill in Buncrana, he was buried near Nathan Dixon-Gill (17) who was also killed.

The young man’s remains were brought to the packed church by horse-drawn hearse and one of three teenagers who survived the crash, Jimmy McKenna, delivered on one of the Mass readings.

Buncrana parish priest Fr Francis Bradley told mourners the best way to respond to the tragedy was to resolve to make Ireland’s roads safer.

“Be careful as you drive. Be mindful as you carry a precious cargo with you. Be prayerful as you get into your car and be thankful as you get out of it,” he said.

The priest said Nathan was a superb young man who had been due to start a new job at an Inishowen engineering works on Tuesday.

The teenager slept with a religious relic under his pillow each night and his Rosary beads were carried to the altar as one of the symbols of his life.

“He appreciated the wonderful, though fragile gift which life is; he lived his 18 years to the full and looked forward to living many more,” Fr Bradley said.