A Co Down GAA player killed in a dune buggy crash in Qatar "has left a great legacy", his funeral has heard.
Eamonn Morgan (24) from Newry was remembered yesterday as "an ambassador" for his community and someone who had "so much to give and so much to receive from this world".
Mr Morgan died alongside his girlfriend Charlotte Sant from Manchester when the dune buggy they were in veered out of control off a steep incline in Qatar last month.
The couple, both PE teachers, had been working in the country for the past year and were members of Qatar GAA club.
At his funeral yesterday, members of St John Bosco GAC in Newry, where Mr Morgan had been a player since he was eight, formed a guard of honour outside the Church of St Brigid.
Friends also wore the Qatar GAA jersey, while others wore t-shirts bearing the name 'Morgy' on the back.
Floral tributes, including a football and St John Bosco GAA jersey, adorned the hearse as Mr Morgan's coffin was carried into the church by his father Kevin and brothers Declan and Kevin.
Among the hundreds of mourners were Ms Sant's parents and siblings, who had travelled to Newry ahead of her funeral.
Parish priest Fr Conor McConville said they were "feelings of disbelief, confusion, panic, anger and sadness felt in the community here in Newry and further afield" following the deaths of the couple.
He described Mr Morgan, a former pupil of St Patrick's Primary School and St Colman's College, as "an inspiration" to many young people.
"He was somebody who had initiative and was passionate about teaching and passing his talents on and bringing those talents out of young people as well," he said.
"I can think of no better ambassador for Newry, St Patrick's, St Colman's, the teaching profession and this community here in the Meadow - no better ambassador that this person of Eamonn Morgan.
"No matter who he encountered, he created a great impression of the type of person he was, he won them over and that's probably how he won Charlotte over as well."
Fr McConville said there was "a great loss of the years ahead for Eamonn who had so much to give and so much to receive from this world".
"The great loss of the potential is so sad," he said.
"He has left a great legacy, he was an ambassador for many people here in this community".
