The bodies of a Latvian mother and daughter killed in a car crash in Co Donegal last weekend arrived back to their home town yesterday.
Aija Porcika (38) and her daughter, Ginta Veits (19) were among five eastern Europeans killed in a crash near Buncrana involving two cars early last Saturday morning.
Their bodies were flown from Dublin airport to Riga yesterday and brought by funeral hearse to the port town of Liepaja in western Latvia last night.
The cost of the repatriation of the bodies is being absorbed by the Health Service Executive in what a spokeswoman described as "a compassionate gesture".
The funerals of Ms Porcika, who worked in an electronics shop in Burnfoot, and Ms Veits, a student, are due to take place on Tuesday in the village of Kapsedes, about 35km (22 miles) from Liepaja.
Coincidentally, the Latvian driver of the second vehicle in the collision, who is believed to have been responsible for the crash, is from the same area and is due to be buried a day later.
Daniels Abartis (23) had been in a nightclub and borrowed the car of the local town clerk, just minutes before the crash. The car was being pursued by gardaí at the time.
In an interview with The Irish Times Ivars Veits (44), father of Ginta Veits and former husband of Aija Porcika, said he felt angry at the actions of Mr Abartis.
"I am the organiser of a local club and if there was a party organised and he was around, you knew you were likely to have some problems. I have some anger towards him, but I do not want to speak ill of the dead.
"I know his parents, too, but it's not their fault," he said. "It's hard for them. They have lost a son; in some ways it's even more difficult for them."
Mr Veits also recalled that his daughter had been shocked at the level of drink-driving among some members of the community in Donegal during a previous visit.
"She was amazed at how common it was, mostly among foreign workers, and then they would go speeding along those narrow roads. She was surprised at the lax approach to the law.
"I warned her at the time never to go into a car with a drunk driver," Mr Veits said.
Meanwhile, the husband and brother of Marita Kerpe (38), a Latvian mother of two who was also killed in the collision, visited the scene of the crash in Donegal as part of a visit funded and organised by local employers and authorities.
They attended a memorial service at St Mary's in Buncrana yesterday evening for the five victims of the car crash.
Ms Kerpe had been working as a shop assistant at Farren's supermarket in Buncrana. Her body is due to be repatriated to Latvia tomorrow. Her funeral is likely to take place in the northeast of the country on Wednesday.
The first secretary of the Latvian embassy in Dublin, Ivars Lasis, said the family wished to express its thanks to the Irish community for its generous response to the tragedy.
The St Vincent de Paul Society, meanwhile, is opening a special account for the families of the crash victims. Money raised will be given to the Latvian embassy for distribution among the families, Mr Lasis said.