Monaghan crash: Dlava Mohamed (16) funeral hears country is ‘shook’ by tragedy

The funeral of Dlava Mohamed, one of the two girls killed in a car crash near Clones on the way to a debs ball earlier this week, has heard how the country had been “shook” by the tragedy.

Dlava (16) and her friend Kiea McCann (17), both students at Largy College in Clones, Co Monaghan, were killed on Monday night when the car in which they were travelling left the road and crashed into a tree on the N54 in Legnakelly.

Family, friends and classmates who travelled from Clones, as well as members of the Muslim community in Dublin, attended her funeral in Clonskeagh Mosque in south Dublin on Thursday afternoon.

Imam Sheikh Hussein Halawa told the service the death of the teenage girl had rocked both her family and the wider community.

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“The tragedy shocked the family … It shook the entire Muslim community, all people living in Ireland,” he said.

At the start of the funeral, Mr Halawa led those gathered in prayer while standing over the teenager’s white coffin.

One of seven siblings, Dlava had been due to start transition year in Largy College in September. Many of those at the funeral were classmates wearing the teal uniform of the secondary school.

The Mohamed family, who are originally from Syria, had brought their daughter’s body from Clones to Dublin on Thursday morning for her funeral.

Speaking at the funeral, Mr Halawa said he wanted to offer his sincere condolences to her family following the “tragic accident” that took her life. At the end of the service, Mr Halawa embraced the girl’s father and other members of her family.

Mr Halawa, whose words were translated to English by Dr Ali Selim, also offered his condolences to the family of Kiea McCann.

After the funeral, classmates of Dlava lined the steps from the mosque in a guard of honour as her body was taken to be buried at Newcastle Muslim Cemetery.

Speaking to reporters after the funeral, Dr Selim, a prominent figure in the mosque, said it was “a very sad day” for the Muslim community.

“When you think of the circumstances of the family, they ran away from Syria because they didn’t feel safe, looking for protection, and unfortunately the place where they thought they would be safe, they were hit with this tragedy,” he said.

The “real sadness” for the family would set in when they are “sitting around the table and she’s not there for dinner”, he said.

Dr Selim said the deaths of the two teenage girls at a time when they were on their way to celebrate was “difficult to believe”.