A FAMILY SHATTERED

Grandparents and little Tom, 3, will never be forgotten', priest vows

- JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE

THE death of a three-year-old boy and his grandparents in a horror crash has left a family shattered and a community numbed, their funeral service heard yesterday.

Fr Enda Brady spoke as Tom, 45, and 46-year-old Bridget Reilly and their grandson Tom were buried.

The trio were laid to rest following the service at St John the Baptist church in Cashel in the aftermath of the single-vehicle incident last Tuesday.

The tragedy occurred just days after four young people lost their lives in a separate crash in Clonmel, also in Co Tipperary. Father Brady said road deaths were not just numbers and behind every statistic there is a face, a personality and an individual.

President Michael D Higgins was among the mourners and Father Brady said the support he had given people in Tipperary in the past week "will never be forgotten".

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was represented at the funeral by aide de camp, Commandant Claire Mortimer.

Little Tom's mother Diane, who was also injured in the crash, attended the service wearing a black T-shirt featuring a photograph of her son.