Little sister’s love provides a fitting tribute to Nicola

The sister of Nicola Furlong brought tears to the eyes of mourners who packed St Margaret’s Church as she bravely eulogised her sister, saying: “The jigsaw of her life would never be finished.”

Andrea, Nicola’s heartbroken youngest sister, told mourners in Curracloe, Co Wexford, that “it’s not goodbye. It’s see you later.”

Nicola, a DCU exchange student who was spending a year in Japan, died in a luxury Tokyo hotel after going there with her best friend and two American men after a concert by the US rapper Nicki Minaj on May 23.

The 21-year-old was found unconscious in a room after a guest alerted staff to a loud noise. The two men were arrested at the shortly afterwards. Nicola later died of strangulation. Her body was flown home last Thursday

Nicola was studying at Takasaki City University of Economics in Gunma Prefecture, about an hour from Tokyo, and was due to return home at the end of July to work in Wexford before beginning her fourth year at DCU, studying business and Japanese.

Andrea, 18, described how she was Nicola’s “big little sister” and that they were like “terrible twins”.

“Nic truly was a ditsy blonde,” said Andrea. “She would daydream about her future as a WAG to a famous footballer and that would be Danny [her boyfriend, striker with Wexford Youths].

“She would dream how she would have a mansion and that I could have an entire floor of it to myself. Nic would talk about us in our 70s and how we would still be able to party and attract all the good looking guys even though we would be using zimmer frames.

“There are no words in the dictionary to describe my sister, best friend, and rock. In time, I hope, my pain will ease.”

Nicola’s parents Andrew and Angie, sisters Andrea and Hannah, boyfriend Danny and other relatives and friends all wore pink ribbons, commemorating Nicola’s love of the colour.

To the strains of ‘Fields of Gold’, Nicola’s pink coffin was brought into the seaside church, adorned with pink lilies, the Wexford GAA jersey, and a photograph.

Mourners wept openly as some of Nicola’s favourite songs such as ‘If I Die Young’ by The Band Perry, and Westlife’s version of ‘You Raise Me Up’, and ‘Butterfly Kisses’ were played during the hour-long ceremony.

St Margaret’s, just 300m from the family’s bungalow on the edge of the village, was packed to capacity, and many more stood outside.

Hundreds of mourners lined the route as Nicola’s coffin was carried the short distance to the church.

A guard of honour was provided by members of local GAA clubs, Wexford Youths FC, and Loreto Girls Secondary School.

In a poem read in the ceremony, three of Nicola’s friends they of how she was “thrilled with 420 points in her Leaving Cert”.

“She often joked about her driving skills,” said a friend. “Nicola was so close to her family and she spoke about her sister Andrea and boyfriend Danny all the time. She was a smart, kind, beautiful, and loving person.”

Chief celebrant of the Mass, Fr Jim Fitzpatrick told mourners: “If someone tells you they have an answer to this, they are lying. People are full of sadness and despair.

“Nicola’s life was God-given and she represented everything that was good, wholesome, and lovely.

“She had so much ability, energy and charisma, but her life was tragically and violently cut short. We are grieving what might have been, and what should have been, in her precious life.”