MOURNERS gathering at the funerals of lifelong friends, Luke Lynch and Ronan Melarkey at the weekend heard how the “soul has been wrenched from the parish community” as a result of their untimely deaths.
The ‘inseparable friends’ had gone to collect a Chinese take away last Sunday evening in Clones and were just a mile from home when the Peugeot 206 they were travelling in collided with a tree.
The driver, Luke (22) was pronounced dead at the scene while Ronan, (21) was taken to hospital in a critical condition. He died on Tuesday last week. A third passenger, Conan Connolly was also taken to hospital suffering injuries to his arms and legs.
The funerals for Luke and Ronan took place at St Mary’s Church, Newtownbutler on Friday and Saturday respectively.
Officiating at both Funeral Masses, Parish Priest Father Michael King told mourners there was “nothing more poignant or tragic, nothing more inexplicable than Ronan and Luke’s sudden and untimely deaths”.
“Family and friends are simply left to pick up the pieces,” he said, “We struggle to come to terms with all of this and naturally we ask the question: ‘Why?’.
“It is not an easy question to answer. Rather than try to answer it, we must try to understand Ronan and Luke’s deaths in the context of life. Where does life come from?
“I believe it comes from God. Maybe Ronan and Luke’s deaths are asking us to reflect more on life, and if we reflect more on life we might live it better.”
Fr. King said the Lynch and Melarkey families were now experiencing “every parents’ worst nightmare”.
“I often wonder do young people really appreciate how much their parents worry about them,” he said. “Every parent worries about their child or children and they worry even more when they go out. How many times have we heard a mother or a father express the sentiments: ‘When they go out I worry until the are back’.
“I imagine it is a sentiment expressed in every family home the length of breadth of the country.”
St. Mary’s Church was filled to capacity for both funerals at the weekend - an indication, according to Fr. King, of the high regard in which they were both held by family, friends and the wider community.
Mourners at Ronan Melarkey’s funeral heard how just 16 months ago, the family had gathered together to say their goodbyes to his mother, Tina, who had suffered a long and courageous battle with cancer.
During his Funeral Mass on Saturday, his grieving father, Paddy, stood up to pay an emotional tribute to his youngest son.
“In every aspect of his life, he wasn’t hard to rear, and that is why I am so proud to call him my son,” he said.
Fr. King told mourners that Ronan had made the decision to donate his organs after learning of his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
“It was a tremendous decision to make at such a young age,” said Fr. King.
 “And the knock on effect of donating organs is the sense of hope that it gives to other individuals and other families. Yes Ronan, you made a courageous and generous decision and I hope that your organs will bring new life to others. I simply say thank you very much. Tina is with us today,” he added.
Luke is survived by is survived by his family,  Chrissie,  Ricky,  Melissa and Ella, and girlfriend, Rosie Conlon. Ronan is survived by his father, Paddy, brother, Emmlyn and sister, Stephanie.