‘James will never know his effect on 2 countries’

Tricolours erected to mark Ireland reaching the finals of the Euro 2012 Championship still hang on many buildings on the main street of Blessington.

Memories of the tournament for residents of the Co Wicklow town will forever be tinged by the tragic death of a local soccer fan while following the team in Poland.

Blessington came to a standstill yesterday morning as local people turned out in their hundreds for the funeral mass of James Nolan whose body was recovered from a river in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz last week.