Remains of NZ quake victim arrive home for burial

THE remains of Irish Christchurch earthquake victim, Eoin McKenna, 41, have finally arrived home, more than a fortnight after a devastating natural disaster caused havoc in his adopted country.

Large crowds in the close-knit Truagh parish in Bracagh, Emyvale, Co Monaghan, are expected to visit the family today to express their sympathies.

The psychiatric nurse and father-of-two children aged five and six died from head injuries when a building collapsed on his car during the 6.5 Richter scale earthquake which struck the New Zealand city on February 22.

However, despite the tragedy occurring more than a fortnight ago, red tape meant his remains were unable to be returned home until now.

Mr McKenna will be laid to rest after noon requiem Mass on Tuesday at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Carrickroe. The family have asked for funeral-goers to make donations to the disaster appeal. On Mr McKenna’s last visit home he had remarked: “If anything ever happens to me out there [New Zealand] I want to be buried here.”

The delay in repatriating the Irishman’s remains has been mirrored in the case of 40-year-old Kerryman JJ O’Connor, who also lost his life in the earthquake.

Mr O’Connor’s wife is expecting the couple’s second child in May.