Mick Clifford: The lonely final journey of Miroslaw and Robert

A priest, gardaí, and people from groups such as the Alice Leahy Trust were at the graveside to mourn two deceased homeless men from Poland as they were buried in Dublin earlier this week

Monsignor Eoin Thynne prays at the graveside of Miroslaw Sierakowski and Robert Matacz at Dardistown Cemetery in Dublin. Those attending the funeral included Alice Leahy, Lisa Hackett, and Joe Gannon of the Alice Leahy Trust, Garda Damien McCarthy, Louisa Santoro of The Mendicity Institution, and two Order of Malta representatives. Picture: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times

They began digging the grave shortly after 8am last Tuesday. The teeth of the mechanical digger clawed at a film of frost and down into the cold ground.

It was all done in a matter of minutes, the displaced earth carted off in a dumper. Timber supports were placed at the side of the hole, straw dropped in to make a bed for the coffins.