The funeral has taken place of murder victim, James McDonagh.
Mourners gathered at the Holy Family Church in Coalisland at 12 noon today to pay their final respects to James who passed away at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on Monday afternoon.
The 28 year-old, who was originally from Coalisland but had been living in the Castledawson area, sustained a serious head injury during an incident outside the Elk Inn on the Hillhead Road in the early hours of last Sunday morning.
During Requiem Mass, Parish Priest Fr. Paul Byrne told his family and friends that James ‘will be with God as Christ promised.’ And that ‘nothing or no one can ever harm him again.’
Fr Byrne said that James’ ‘young life’ was ‘cut so short in tragic circumstances. Circumstances that should have been and could have been, avoided.’
The Parish Priest also appealed to mourners to 'show mercy.'
He said: “God asks us to show mercy to those who have hurt us and inflicted pain on us. He calls us to forgive, even when our deepest instinct is for revenge.”
Meanwhile, a woman who was arrested yesterday (Saturday) by detectives investigating James’ murder was released on bail pending further enquiries.
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