OUTPOURING OF 'Their only consolation was that they are together in heaven'

Tears as 'caring' Natalie & her 'outgoing' six-year-old daughter Ella laid to rest

- BY SEAN MURPHY

HEARTBROKEN loved ones wept at the funerals of Natalie McLaughlin and her daughter Ella with mourners hearing their “only consolation” was “they are together" in heaven.

Natalie, who was in her 20s, and Ella, six, died following a collision between a car and a van near Carndonagh in Donegal last Wednesday.

Natalie's partner Tyrone and the couple's two-year-old child Rhea-Rose also suffered serious injuries in the tragedy, just two weeks after a family holiday in Portugal.

Yesterday, the family from Carndonagh grieved as their two white coffins were wheeled up to the altar for their joint funeral Mass.

A beautiful photograph of the devoted mother and her little girl was placed beside them.

Tyrone and Rhea-Rose, along with Natalie's parents Joanne and Danny McLaughlin, were comforted by parish priest Fr Con McLaughlin at Sacred Heart Church in Carndonagh.

He told how the “community has come together in sadness” and is “joined by people from all over Ireland” as the country mourned the “unspeakable” tragedy.