Saturday, January 15, 2011

Mourners pay respects to Michaela

mourners at ballygawley roundaboutSeveral hundred people gathered on Friday evening at the Ballygawley roundabout, several miles from the Harte family home
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Hundreds of people are expected in Ballygawley over the weekend to pay their respects at the family home of Michaela McAreavey.

Mrs McAreavey, 27, daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football boss Mickey Harte, was found murdered in her honeymoon hotel room in Mauritius on Monday.

Her body was returned to the home of her parents on Friday evening.

Friends and neighbours lined the route close to the Harte home as the hearse carrying the body passed.

Members of the Tyrone GAA club formed a guard of honour.

Park and ride facilities will be set up near the family home to cope with the large number of people expected to visit on Saturday and Sunday.

Her funeral will be held next Monday at 1230 GMT at St Malachy's Church, Ballymacilroy - the same County Tyrone church where she was married.

In a quiet, private corner of Belfast City Airport, the Harte and McAreavey families came together for the first time since the wedding of Michaela and John.

It is difficult to imagine a more painful re-union.

Together they then accompanied the hearse carrying Michaela's body on the hour-long journey to the Harte family home in Co Tyrone.

Michaela and John were so close that they were known by friends as 'Mic and Mac'. The nicknames were derived from Michaela and McAreavey.

In a measure of how popular the 27-year-old Irish teacher was, special facilities are being set up near her family home to cope with the large number of people expected on Saturday and Sunday to attend her wake. A park-and-ride scheme will be in place.

The plane carrying the 27-year-old's remains touched down at Belfast City Airport at lunchtime on Friday.

Her husband, John, was on the flight that brought his wife of just 12 days back to her home in her coffin.

He was accompanied on the flight by his father, Brendan, his brother, Brian and Mrs McAreavey's brother, Mark.

There to meet them at the airport was the Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey, uncle of the groom, who married them on 30 December.

The bride's three brothers were also present to escort her body home.

The coffin was covered with a purple drape as the hearse drove from the airport. The family followed in cars behind.

The procession made its way out of Belfast to the Harte family home near Ballygawley, County Tyrone.

She was found murdered in her room at the Legends Hotel on Monday. Three men have been charged in connection with her killing.

It is thought that she interrupted thieves in her room taking money from a purse. They panicked and she was strangled.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-northern-ireland-12195316

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