The bodies of the four Polish men who died in a car crash on Good Friday in Cork were transported back to their native country via ferry from Rosslare to the UK and then on to mainland Europe yesterday.
Polish undertakers sent a special vehicle from Warsaw to the morgue at Cork University Hospital to transport the bodies of Sylwester Szczyrow (25), Andrzej Wojciechowski (27), Radoslaw Nowak (23) and Rafal Gorski (28) back home.
The death of Mr Wojciechowski represents a second tragedy in his family in a matter of months, as his father died suddenly before Christmas.
Meanwhile, an employer of one of the crash victims, Roy Coughlan, from Winthrop Engineering in Ballincollig, Co Cork, will today visit the families of the men to offer his condolences. Speaking from Poland yesterday, Mr Coughlan paid tribute to Rafal Gorski, who worked in the firm's mechanical division. The regional manager at Winthrop Engineering was also friendly with the three other crash victims and socialised with them on a regular basis.
"I was very close to them. They had a great sense of humour and were always up for the craic. We had dinner with them every week and got on very well."
He added: "Rafal's father worked here in construction for a while and I knew him so I wanted to go and offer my condolences. Rafal was an excellent employee but he was our friend as well. Our foreman said he was the best fellow he ever worked with. I will be visiting the families and I am dreading it really. It is very sad."
Staff at Carey's Tools in Cork city, where Sylwester Szczyrow worked in the warehouse, have also sent a "substantial sum" to his family in Poland to help towards funeral costs and a loan which Sylwester took out to pay for his journey to Ireland.
Vikki Jolly, supervisor at the firm, said her fellow workers were "gutted' at the sudden death of a much-loved employee. They have put together a scrapbook documenting Sylwester's time in Cork to send to his parents. Ms Jolly said she wanted to show the family the esteem Sylwester was held in by his friends in Ireland.
The men's funerals will take place just outside the Polish town of Pisz, south of Gdansk, on Monday.
Members of the Polish community in Ireland, along with workmates and friends of the men, raised half of the €8,000 needed to transport the bodies back to Poland.
The Health Service Executive (South) has agreed to pay the shortfall of €4,000.Fr John O'Donovan, parish priest in Ballincollig, Co Cork, where the men lived, will attend the funerals. The Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley, sent a message to the bereaved saying the young men's loss was shared by the people of their adopted city. "It is so sad that they have died far from home and far from their loved ones. Our prayers and sympathy to you all."