The funeral details of a bus driver tragically killed in a fatal road crash in Co Westmeath this week have been announced.
Fifty-five-year-old Michael Gill, from Kenagh, Co Longford passed away the bus he was driving left the road and collided with a ditch in the townland of Killogeenaghan, Moate, Co Westmeath at around 5.30pm on Wednesday.
Mr Gill, who had close to two decades of driving experience behind him, had only taken up employment with Bus Éireann barely two months previously.
There were approximately 20 passengers on the bus at the time with a number being taken to hospital for treatment to what have been described as non-life threatening injuries.
Mr Gill was rushed to Tullamore's Midland Regional Hospital, where he later passed away.
The much loved and well respected darts enthusiast's funeral notice on rip.ie told of how Mr Gill "will be forever missed by his heartbroken family", headed by his "beloved wife Mary, sons John, Alan, Kevin and Kieran, daughters Rinoa and Sara, mother-in-law Kathleen, brothers-in-law Gerard, Kieran and Martyn, sister-in-law Deirdre, nephews and nieces Shauna, Darragh, Tara, Darian, Oscar and Harvey, dear cousins, neighbours, good friends and his work colleagues."
Mr Gill’s body will, prior to that, lie in repose at Connell's Funeral Home, Church St, Longford, Eircode N39 KN66, on Sunday from 2pm with prayers concluding at 4pm.
His funeral cortege will leave his home in Kenagh on Monday at 10.30am to arrive at St Dominic's Church, Kenagh for Funeral mass at 11am ahead of cremation to Lakelands Crematorium, Dublin Rd., Cavan at 3pm.
Tributes, meanwhile, have continued to flood in for the father of six in the wake of Wednesday evening’s tragedy.
“He was just well liked by everybody and everything he was involved in," said local Cllr Murray.
"And if there was a passenger who might not have been looking forward to a long journey ahead of them, Michael would always make them feel at ease by putting a smile on their face."
Liam Farrelly, of local family-run bus service provider Farrelly's Coaches, said both he and many of Mr Gill’s former colleagues had been left stunned by the events of the past 72 hours.
"I only rang him last Monday to see how he was getting on and if he wanted to come back," said Mr Farrelly.
"He was 16 years with us and the first driving job he had was with us. He was a great driver, he even drove double deckers for us and went all over the country and on tours to England for us."
"Michael was just a lovely gentleman, a quiet man, inoffensive and even tempered. And because he was such a capable driver, he was never stressed and the passengers loved him.”
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