Footballer Joshua Daniels, who tragically lost five members of his family in the Buncrana pier incident in 2016, has married his long-term partner Hannah Kelly.
The couple were married on Thursday and held their reception at the Drenagh Estate near Limavady, County Derry.
The former Derry City FC winger posted a photograph of the newly-weds on his Instagram account on the day of the wedding with the caption “The Daniels 15.06.23”, later adding: “One of the best days of my life”.
The pair have been together for a number of years and have two daughters; Zahra and Éabha. Josh has previously credited Hannah with helping through a difficult period of his life in which he lost five loved ones in 2016.
Josh’s sister Louise James’s partner, Sean McGrotty (49), and their two boys Mark (12) and Evan (8) also died in the disaster when their car sank after sliding off an algae-covered slipway and entered the Lough Swilly. The only survivor was his baby niece Ríoghnach-Ann.
Ríoghnach-Ann was rescued by Kerrykeel man, Davitt Walsh, who swam out to the car in the freezing waters and managed to get hold of her after her father pleaded “save the baby” and handed her out the window seconds before the vehicle became submerged.
Mr Walsh, who is a former League of Ireland striker, then managed to bring her to shore. He was widely praised for his heroism and was awarded a Sunday Life Spirit of Northern Ireland Award..
Josh returned to the pitch for Derry City weeks after the tragedy and scored his first goal for the club in May 2016.
He moved to Glenavon in August 2017, remaining with the club until August 2020, a spell during which he made 87 appearances, scoring 13 goals for the Lurgan Blues.
Daniels signed for English League One side Shrewsbury town in 2020. He scored two goals in 40 appearances and features during last season’s FA Cup Third Round tie against Premier League side Liverpool.
Josh turned down a return to the Irish League in 2022, signing instead for Welsh side The New Saints (TNS).
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