Community reaching out to family following tragedy

THE people of Erris will respond with the same compassion and empathy towards the relatives of yesterday's tragic road crash near Claremorris, in which three members of the same family died, as they did for the loved ones of the Rescue 116 helicopter tragedy earlier this year, it was predicted this morning.
Following the tragic deaths of mother of four Marcella Wilson from Binghamstown, Belmullet, her seven-year-old son, Sean, and her mother, Mary Ann, who was in her seventies, Erris priest Fr. Kevin Hegarty said the R116 catastrophe had stirred an
immense response from the community.
“I expect the same thing to happen now,” he told listeners to Midwest Radio News. 
Marcella Wilson, the driver of the Citroen C3 car which collided with an articulated lorry on the N17 near Claremorris, had three other children - Amy (16), Kelly (14) and Anthony (8).
Fr. Hegarty described the Wilsons as 'highly respected and well liked'.
He added: “It is absolute devastation for them. They are absolutely suffering just now. We do want them to know we deeply care.”
Reflecting on the mood in Erris yesterday before news of the tragedy filtered through, Fr. Hegarty observed: “Early in the day, all the talk was of Sunday's All-Ireland final. We live in a (Gaelic) football obsessed county. But now there is numbness, a sense of silence.”
Erris-based Senator Rose Conway-Walsh, also speaking this morning on Midwest Radio News, said: “It was my privilege to know the three who died. They were very ordinary, decent human beings. They lived down the road from us here. It was always a pleasure to meet them. 
“Early yesterday everbody was excited about Sunday's All-Ireland final. Now there is just a profound sadnes and shock in the community that this could have happened to such a lovely family. 
“Peope are trying to make sense of what happened but you just can't make sense of something like this.”
Post-mortem examinations are expected to be carried out today (Tuesday) on the remains of the three victims at Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar.
The bodies will then be released for burial with the funerals expected to take place later in the week.