Priest warns young people cars can be 'very potent weapons' at funeral of Donegal crash victim (17)

Stephen Maguire

A priest has warned young people that cars can be “very potent weapons” as he celebrated the funeral mass of a young man killed in a tragic road crash in Co Donegal.

Shaun Martin McClafferty was laid to rest on Thursday following his funeral mass at Christ the King Church in Gortahork.

His close friend, Jamie Diver, was buried following his funeral mass at the same church yesterday.

Both men died after their Suzuki Liana car crashed into the gable wall of a house at nearby Baltoney on Friday evening last.

Two of their close friends who were also in the car at time are still being treated in hospital for serious injuries they suffered in the tragedy.

Once again hundreds of people congregated at the church in the centre of the Gaeltacht village to say a sombre farewell to a much-loved young person.

Outside the church dozens of cars lined the roadside opposite the church with specially-adapted license plates remembering both Shaun and Jamie.

But, in a hard-hitting and emotional homily, the former parish priest of Gortahork, Fr Sean O Gallchoir, reminded young people that the community does not suffer any more weeks like the past one.

“I would remind people that when we get into a car that we drive with great care and with a great sense of responsibility not alone for our now precious lives but for the precious lives of those who travel along with us or who we meet along the road.

“Hopefully we resolve our best not to endanger anyone and to realise that the car, for all its glory, is a very potent weapon.

“We pray that God will join us on our every journey until we arrive at our destination safely. Today we appeal that we all do our utmost to ensure that we have no more weeks like the past week in this community - a week full of wakes.

“We pray that this past week has been a wake-up call for all of us to drive with the utmost care and do our best.

“Shaun Martin’s journey is over now and we place him into God’s hands and we ask God to support and strengthen Micheal and Sharon and their two families.

“I would remind people that when we get into a car that we drive with great care and with a great sense of responsibility not alone for our now precious lives but for the precious lives of those who travel along with us or who we meet along the road.

“Hopefully we resolve our best not to endanger anyone and to realise that the car, for all its glory, is a very potent weapon.

“We pray that God will join us on our every journey until we arrive at our destination safely. Today we appeal that we all do our utmost to ensure that we have no more weeks like the past week in this community - a week full of wakes.

“We pray that this past week has been a wake-up call for all of us to drive with the utmost care and do our best.

“Shaun Martin’s journey is over now and we place him into God’s hands and we ask God to support and strengthen Micheal and Sharon and their two families."

Among the mourners were Shaun Martin's heartbroken parents, Micheal and Sharon, and his younger sister, Sara.

Gifts brought to the altar by Shaun Martin’s friends to symbolise life included a Lexus badge, a wooden clock he made in PCC Falcarragh and his beloved toolbox ‘that he used so often in the shed behind his house’.

Fr O Gallchoir told mourners it was a ‘dark day’ for the parish ‘today again, as it was yesterday’ for the funeral of Jamie.

He also pointed out that it was a tragic month for the family - on the last day of January, Sharon’s aunt passed away. That same morning their cousin, John McElhinney, passed away unexpectedly in Falcarragh. Last month, Shaun Martin’s cousin, Enya McMurrough (13), died and ‘shook the community to its foundation.’

He added that, ‘little did I know’, he would be concelebrating Shaun Martin’s funeral mass today.

“We stood here where he is (laid out) now, on Sharon and Micheal’s wedding day, our hearts full of hope and happiness,” he recalled.

“We sat here full of joy on his baptism day. We stood here for his First Communion day in 2016 and again to make his Confirmation just before Covid. Today, in the same spot as on their wedding day, his baptism, communion and confirmation, we give him back to god.

“We will stand at his graveside brokenhearted to see a sight that no parent should see - their only son going into the grave.”

He added that the McClafferty family, and the entire community, were struggling to understand ‘how cruel things happen to good people’..

But, Fr O Gallchoir stressed, they will be strengthened by the memories of Shaun Martin’s short life.

He described him as ‘bright and able, clever and intelligent’ but, despite his good teachers, he found out that the academic route was not his way.

“The best part of his four years in PCC Falcarragh was the work experience in the garage,” he said.

“So much so that he left in fourth year and then went to Sweden to build a golf course. With that sense of adventure, he went to Sweden and talked his dad into going with him. His parents were so important to him. It was a happy Scandinavian sojourn until his dad had to come home, and he came home shortly after.”

He described Shaun Martin as a ‘big hearted softie' who followed his father home to join ‘Source’ in Dublin.

“He loved it there, but Micheal was there to keep an eye on him and cook for him”.

Fr O Gallchoir said Shaun Martin got a ‘big thrill’ of coming home from Dublin every weekend.

“He had a short life story, but thousands of memories to bring you strength,” he told his parents and sister.

“You will also get strength from this community, from the hundreds here today and the thousands who came to Gortahork for his wake.”

He added it was hard to believe that three members of the local band have lost a child in the last month.

“It’s been a terrible time for the band,” Fr O Gallchoir said.

Referring to their trip to America, he added: “Little did they know the Fairtytale of New York would be followed by the Nightmare of Baltoney.”

He paid tribute to the young men and women whose cars were parked side-by-side bearing Shaun Martin and ‘Slicks’ (Jamie Diver) names.

Shaun Martin’s mother, Sharon, ended the Mass with a short poem about her beloved son.

She said he touched the lives of all he knew: “Not gone, not out of sight, Shaun Martin shines and endless light.”

Shaun Martin’s remains were carried from the church to the adjoining cemetery where he was laid to rest.