THE family of a young Co Derry man who died in a road traffic collision have told of how his sudden death has left them "devastated".
Ciaran McShane, who was 33 and from Kilrea, died on Monday as a result of a road crash on the M1 in Co Louth.
The collision, which involved a car and a lorry, happened southbound between Junction 17 and Junction 16 near Dundalk at around 5am.
Mr McShane, a married father-of-two, died as a result of the collision. The driver of the lorry was arrested at the scene but later released without charge with a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Mr McShane, who worked as a plumber, was on his way to work in Dublin when the tragedy happened.
Odrán McShane said his brother had "lived for his family" and was only starting to get "back on his feet" following an accident some years ago.
"He was working for a long time on the gas plumbing and about four years ago he had a horrific accident and he was left with severe burns on his arm and he had to have skin grafts," he said.
"After having survived that he was out of work for a long time. He was getting back on his feet and things were going in the right direction for his family. It just wasn't to be."
Mr McShane said his brother's wife and their two children, a son due to start primary school in September and a daughter, who will be two next month, had been left "totally devastated".
"He had built his own house. He was working to establish a good family home for his wee unit. He would have been married six years on July 5," he said.
"He was a real family man," he said.
"He loved his family and his extended family. It is devastating that Ciaran is going to miss so many firsts in his family's life."
He described his brother as "always smiling" and said "he had a positive outlook on life."
"He was a great friend. He was the guy that they could depend on. He was the life and soul of the party when he was younger. He was a great fella for practical jokes. He was the king of the one-liners".
Kilrea GAA Club, where Mr McShane was a former player, said it was "deeply saddened" by his passing.
"Ciaran played under-age with the club and then came back to kit out for the reserves on many occasions. One thing that everyone will tell you about Ciaran was that he always had a big smile on his face and his sense of humour was infectious."
