Buncrana crash victim 'had heart of gold'

The final victim of Ireland’s worst road crash to be buried was a proud family man, full of life and with a heart of gold, mourners heard today.

James McEleney, 23, was a joker, a showman who loved to make people smile, his grieving uncle Philly Ivers said at his packed funeral Mass.

The Inishowen village of Clonmany came to a standstill for the eighth and last funeral service of Sunday’s horrific crash that devastated parishes across the north Donegal peninsula.

Neighbours and friends silently lined the main street outside St Mary’s Church, some weeping, as loud speakers echoed the service across windswept fields.

“To his family he was a proud loving son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and a boyfriend with a heart of gold,” Mr Ivers said in a brief eulogy peppered with humour.

“James was a true homebird. Despite trying to fly the nest to America, he was back within two weeks to his mother.”