Two of "heaven's five new angels", Sinéad Ledwidge (15) and Deirdre Scanlon (17) were buried yesterday in Yellow Furze, Co Meath, amid expressions of hope that some good would come from their deaths.
Parish priest Fr Peter Farrelly said in his homily at Sinéad's funeral Mass that since the tragic events, people had been questioning and talking about the safety of children.
"There is controversy about seat belts, but getting away from the blame . . . if the death of Sinéad and the others has got people to question and to think about how we care for, look after, the welfare of our children, then their deaths are not in vain."
Described as an "artistic, athletic, academic, all-rounder", Sinéad was buried just a few yards away from another "exceptional girl", Deirdre Scanlon, in the graveyard behind the Church of the Assumption.
Close to 1,000 people attended each service, which took place either side of noon.
Local shops and businesses were closed. Playing fields and work yards fell silent. It was truly a community in mourning.
Classmates of the girls from Beaufort college and St Michael's Loreto Convent, both in Navan, formed guards of honour along with members of the local marching band, with which Sinéad had been active, and Senschalstown GAA club, for which Deirdre had played football.
Fr Farrelly recalled his own memories of the elder girl, a niece of former county footballer Mattie McCabe. On the day of a recent Meath v Kerry game, Deirdre arrived into Mass wearing a number 13 jersey in the colours of the Kingdom. "She was a character."
A straight-A student and senior prefect in St Michael's, she had planned to study for accountancy. "In the parish, she served Mass here. She was involved in most things that were going. She had the brains for the parish quiz team. She had the brawn for the football team."
He added: "We say, what a waste, what a shame, what a tragedy. Yes indeed. But, yes and no . . . So many people are the better for it that she had these 17 and a bit years with us."
Deirdre's parents Rose and Peter were among the mourners, along with her sister Caitríona, who read a prayer during the Mass, and her grandmothers, Catherine and Detta.
Fr Farrelly said he prayed Deirdre was enjoying the jokes and songs of "Grandad Michael", in heaven. To "Grandad John", who had also predeceased her, Fr Farrelly had this message: "Look after her."
Sinéad is survived by her parents Geraldine and Leo, sister Sonia and brothers Christy and Thomas.
Some of her artwork and her recently won Leinster schools shot-put gold medal were laid on the altar in an emotional ceremony which ended with the reading of a poem that she had written on "my dreams for the future".
Prayers in both ceremonies were said for the other victims of the tragedy and the survivors, many of whom were in attendance despite still bearing emotional and physical scars.
Between Masses, mourners filed into nearby Beauparc primary school where large mugs of tea and home-made cakes were served.
On a cloth-covered school desk in the hallway, five coloured candles had been placed around a bouquet with the message: "For five beautiful angels. You will never be forgotten."
The President was represented at both services by her aide-de-camp Col Ray King, and the Taoiseach by his aide-de-camp, Comdt Michael Murray.
The Government was also represented at Deirdre's funeral by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin, and at Sinéad's funeral by Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey.
Among others at both funerals were the Garda Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock, CIÉ chairman John Lynch, representatives from Bus Éireann, Meath football manager Seán Boylan, and several local politicians.
Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto sent a letter of sympathy which was read out at each Mass, while the Bishop of Meath, the Most Rev Michael Smith, led mourners in reciting a prayer which would be common to all five funeral services.
Printed by the local diocese on a special Mass card, it opened with the lines:
"We give them back to you, oh Lord, Who first gave them to us."
The bishop also praised the manner in which local people had rallied together following Monday's tragedy, organising among other things an impromptu prayer service at the church.
Fr Farrelly recalled that he had spent that evening with the parents of some of the victims in a local hospital. He said because there was no priest in the parish, local people got the key and opened the church and put on the lights and gathered in prayer.
"Nobody caused you, nobody told you to do that. You organised this yourselves and in doing so you were responding to a deep instinct within you, a deep faith within you.
"If your faith was shaken it was shaken to life."
A third plot in the church graveyard remains to be filled today with the last of the five funerals - that of Aimee McCabe (15).
