Marching band paying tribute to tragic three

A CO DONEGAL marching band is to mark the recent loss of three loved ones in tragic circumstances with a poignant ceremony on New York's Brooklyn Bridge this Sunday.

- DANNY DE VAAL

Cloughaneely Band was honoured to receive an invitation from the Donegal Association in New York to participate in the city's prestigious St Patrick's Day Parade on Monday.

But little did they know that so much tragedy was to beset their members in a few short weeks.

The band was rocked in February when Enya McMurrough, aged just 13, and daughter of band member Fionnuala, would pass away suddenly.

The tightly-knit group were to be shaken to the core again following the recent tragic car crash in Gortahork which claimed the lives of Jamie Diver and Shaun Martin McClafferty.

The young men's mothers, Roise and Sharon, are both proud members of the band also.