Large crowd mourns youth who drowned

Hundreds of mourners turned out last night for the removal of Shane Coughlan, who drowned last week in the Grand Canal.

The body of Mr Coughlan (18), from Millpark, was found in the canal in Clondalkin, Dublin, last Wednesday. The remains of his friend, David White (18) were found nearby on Saturday.

A postmortem examination found that both teenagers had drowned. They had gone to an all-night Esso garage early on Sunday after a party nearby. The mourners at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Clondalkin were led last night by Shane's parents, Tommy and Eilish Coughlan, his brothers Graham and Mark and their partners Claire and Tara.

Dozens of Shane's friends and former classmates turned up for the removal wearing Manchester United shirts with the name "Cocko" and No 1 on the back.

Wreaths were sent from Plymouth Argyle FC, the club for which Graham Coughlan, a professional footballer, played before joining Sheffield Wednesday. Several members of the Cherry Orchard club, which Graham joined as a schoolboy, also attended the removal.

Fr David Lumsden said the family was still in a "state of shock" although it had been almost a week since his body was found. He said the Coughlans had been unable to grieve properly until the body of Shane's friend David was recovered.

Fr Lumsden said it was particularly hard for Shane's parents who had left their son in God's care when they baptised him 18 years previously and now had to leave his body in the church overnight. He urged the younger mourners to support the family with their prayers and to turn out for the funeral Mass at 10am today, followed by burial at Palmerstown cemetery.