The body of tragic Ballintra woman Elaine Morrow, the 23-year-old backpacker who died while scuba diving in Australia more than two weeks ago, is on its way home to Ireland.
Ms Morrow’s funeral will be held on Thursday afternoon after a service at the Drumholm Parish Church of Ireland, Ballintra.
Her home will be strictly private and for family members tonight and on Thursday morning, but there will be a wake for friends and neighbours tomorrow.
Ms Morrow, newly arrived on a one-year visa in Australia, was scuba diving off Queensland with a group at Langford Island in the Whitsunday Islands on April 18th when she failed to resurface. She became separated from a team of three divers and an instructor.
When they didn’t see her above water, searchers returned to the ocean floor and found her. Whitsunday water police said witnesses were unable to revive her on the charter boat, Summertime, and later at Hayman Island medical centre. She was a biology graduate from NUI Maynooth.
For two weeks, during two bank holiday weekends, there has been a constant stream of mourners to offer sympathy to her parents, Jimmy and Margaret, and other family members at their home.
The family has been told it could be months before completion of an investigation into the drowning by Australian workplace, health and safety officials and Mackay Police in Queensland.
Ms Morrow was on a three-day chartered boat trip with friends when she joined 12 other tourists on the scuba diving expedition.
Former classmates living in Australia helped make arrangements for the body to be returned home.
Ms Morrow died on the same date as her grandfather, Victor Barnes