Locals formed a guard of honour in Clones late on Tuesday night as a hearse carrying the remains of Kiea McCann (17) arrived to her family home.
Kiea and her best friend Dlava Mohamed (16), both students at Largy College in the town, died, and three others were injured, in a single vehicle crash while on their way to a debs ball on Monday evening.
Hundreds of people lined the streets of the town until after 11pm for the funeral cortege, standing on the roadside for over an hour awaiting the teenager’s final journey from Monaghan. The local community created a guard of honour that stretched for over 1km on both sides of the road, through The Diamond in the heart of Clones and onto Fitzpatrick Square, where the McCann family home is located.
The cortege, led by the hearse carrying the teenager’s remains in a white coffin, paused on The Diamond outside the family home of Kiea’s best friend Dlava, who also died in the crash along with her best friend.
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When it reached the McCann home there were harrowing scenes outside as many women were overcome with grief, their sobbing filling the air.
The crowds that had lined the streets then gathered in very large numbers outside the house as the teenager was brought home for the final time.
Earlier, at around 9pm, a large group of the Mohamed extended family and their friend walked to McCann house, the families of the two dead girls united in grief.
The crash which caused the deaths of teens while on their way to a debs ball in Co Monaghan on Monday took place when the car in which they were travelling with three others left the roadway and collided with a tree.
The two friends were killed and the three others in the car were seriously injured on the N54 at Legnakelly near Clones at around 6.45pm.
Kiea McCann grew up in Kilmainhamwood in Co Meath, but later moved to Clones with her family. Dlava Mohamed’s family, who also live in the town, are originally from Syria.
An 18-year-old girl who was also a passenger in the car is in a critical but stable condition and is being treated at Cavan General Hospital. A boy (18) received treatment at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
[ ‘A night of celebration became a night of suffering and heartbreak’Opens in new window ]
A man (60), the driver of the car, remains in a critical condition and is being treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
The bodies of the two victims were removed from the scene to Monaghan General Hospital. Postmortems were completed on the bodies of the two deceased, the results of which are not being released for operational reasons, said the Garda.
Kiea McCann is survived by nine siblings, and her parents Frankie and Teresa. She was predeceased by a brother.
Dlava Mohamed is survived by her parents Hohamed and Zenab, two brothers and four sisters. It is understood some of her siblings are living in Lebanon.
[ Co Monaghan crash is every parent’s worst nightmare, says MinisterOpens in new window ]
Superintendent Patrick O’Connell on Tuesday evening extended his sympathies to the families of the two teenage girls.
Speaking to the media at Clones Garda Station on Tuesday evening, he said the collision took place “when a single vehicle, which was carrying five people, left the roadway and collided with a tree”.
The N54 is due to be reopened following a forensic examination of the scene and a senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the investigation. The vehicle was on Tuesday removed from the scene.
“This was a particularly traumatic incident for everyone involved and I wish to acknowledge and thank all of the first responders who worked closely together – particularly members of An Garda Siochana, members of the ambulance and fire service, the hospital staff, and indeed members of the public who stopped to render assistance,” said Superintendent O’Connell.
“This tragedy continues to be extremely traumatic for our local community, particularly in the Clones and Monaghan area. We will continue to work closely with the teaching and management staff at Largy College to support the students and staff affected by this terrible tragedy.”
Superintendent O’Connell said he cannot give details as to the focus of the Garda investigation into the crash. “We’ve a senior investigating officer appointed, we’ve already had a case conference at Monaghan Garda Station,” he said, adding that the investigation would progress at pace.
He added: “Having attended the scene last night it was particularly harrowing, particularly the chaos that emanates when such an incident happens. The fire service [and] the ambulance services, I’ve said already, were particularly brilliant as they usually are here, and without them we wouldn’t have been able to manage this incident and deal with it.”
He said that the families affected are “hugely devastated”, and asked that their peace and privacy be respected. Family liaison officers have been appointed.
Largy College in Clones opened on Monday night to provide support for students.
On Tuesday, Largy College said students, staff and parents are in “deep shock” following the road crash. A “critical incident plan” was due to be enacted by the school.
The school principal, Sharon Magennis, said it was with “profound sadness and grief” that they learned about the “devastating accident that resulted in the untimely and tragic loss of two cherished members of our school community”.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends who have tragically lost loved ones. The other individuals involved in the accident also remain in our thoughts and prayers at this time,” she said.
Ms Magennis said the school’s priority was the welfare of students, parents and staff at “this difficult time”.
“The principal also extended gratitude to the emergency services and gardaí who “responded swiftly to the incident”.
In a tribute posted on Facebook, Shaunice McCann, Kiea’s sister, described her as “strong, beautiful, loving and caring girl”.
“My little baby sister, I have no words to describe the emotions going through me right now. I really don’t know what to do without you, I am just so lost and don’t understand how something like this could just happen to you and I just hope you know that we all love you so much,” she wrote.
Kiea and Dlava had been best friends for some time. In a photograph uploaded to Dlava’s Facebook account almost two years ago, she and Kiea pose together in front of a bedroom mirror. The caption read “besties,” with a heart emoji.
David Maxwell, a member of the board of management of the school, said cars bringing teenagers to the debs were travelling in convoy and that friends and neighbours were first on the scene of the crash.
Families often travel to the debs venue to take photographs, he told RTÉ radio’s News at One.
“We hear about these stories about first responders landing out to an accident and it is a family member involved in the accident. But when ordinary people are traveling in a convoy along the road and an accident happens and you’re the first there, it must be unbearable.”
Mr Maxwell said that the priority of the school was looking after the wellbeing of their students and family members. “It has been a tremendous shock in Clones and in the wider county of Monaghan, and we have to help give any support we can to our student families and school body.”
The students had spent the last week and days excitedly preparing for their big day and for it all to end in such a tragedy was very painful. “Words cannot express how everybody feels.”
The victims of the crash were remembered at a local Mass on Tuesday morning.
Fr Peter Corrigan told the congregation gathered at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Clones that “a night of celebration became a night of suffering and heartbreak”.
Speaking at 10am Mass, Fr Corrigan asked that the girls and their families and friends be remembered in “a special way”.
Fr Corrigan told The Irish Times he was called to the scene of the crash on Monday night and “prayed over them”. He said it was “a terrible shock” for the families and “a terrible thing to experience”.
“Young people full of life, and suddenly it’s all finished,” he said. “It would have been a moment of great excitement in their lives and something they would have been planning and looked forward to for a long time. That moment of life, it has suddenly all changed.”
Fr Corrigan said the tragedy would be felt by the whole community and surrounding area for “a long time”.
“Largy College is very much at the centre of this community and surrounding community and children go to Largy from the whole area,” he added. “The community will definitely come together, it always does and gives great support. We will be there for them and pray for them in their moment of sadness.”
Members of Youth Work Ireland were on hand on Monday night to provide support for young people returning from the debs, which was cancelled.
Caolan Fox, director of the service in Cavan-Monaghan, told RTÉ radio’s Today show that people were “struggling to get their heads around the tragedy”.
Mr Fox said he put a call out to staff on Monday night to assist and six turned up within a short time with others arriving as the night wore on.
“We’ve been speaking to young people primarily on the streets and in the centres, and then we’ve been speaking to parents and we’ve had a number of callers from the community to see what they can do at this point to support and to assist.”
The staff knew many of the young people by name and it was “humbling” to see them engage at this difficult time.
Initially there had been a huge amount of confusion, he said. “That hasn’t gone away. And there’s still a lot of confusion there this morning. And for young people to digest it, it was hugely important to have teams on the street. Obviously the centre gives an alternative to young people heading to the pub, which obviously we’d rather avoid.”
Mr Fox said his team had been speaking with teachers at the school last night, one of whom had pointed out that this group of young people had missed out on so much through the Covid pandemic.
There had been a lot of joy in the preparations for the debs, a sense of “letting loose” that had ended in the “saddest possible way”.
Former professional boxing champion and Clones native Barry McGuigan offered his condolences to the people of Clones and the families of those involved, adding “we pray that those seriously injured will make a complete recovery”.
Gardaí in Monaghan are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact them. Anyone who may have camera footage and were travelling on the N54 between Clones and Smithborough on Monday between 6.15pm and 7pm are asked to make the footage available.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Monaghan Garda station on 047 77200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station. - Additional reporting PA
