Footage shows tense scenes as groups trade insults ahead of Martin McDonnell funeral

The incident took place in Longford town on Easter Monday before the burial service of 19-year-old Martin McDonnell yesterday morning.

The teenager was tragically killed after being struck by a bus in the town last week.

Several gardaí were forced to physically restrain a number of young women who began hurling abuse in the direction of a group of men who could be seen standing outside the entrance to the county town’s former Connolly Barracks site.

No arrests were made, but the episode was one which illustrated heightened tensions ahead of yesterday’s funeral.

That came after a warning was issued to a number of individuals ahead of Tuesday’s proceedings to stay away from both the funeral and burial at Ballymacormack Cemetery.

It also prompted a visible garda presence at the funeral of Mr McDonnell, some five days after the young Longford man was tragically knocked down and killed after being struck by a bus along the town’s Convent Road.

The young Longford man had been due to get married In Northern Ireland just three weeks before tragedy struck.

His younger sister, Melissa told mourners of how she had been left heartbroken at the news.

“Martin, where do I ever start? Never in my life did I think I would be standing here for you right now.

“You had your whole life ahead of you and I can’t even put into words how much you are going to be missed. You were my best friend.”

Local parish priest Fr Michael McGrath added that the tragedy was the third such tragic incident to hit the McDonnell family over the past two years.

On New Year’s Day last year, Martin’s older brother Ciaran was killed in a single vehicle road crash outside Granard.

Martin had delivered the eulogy at his older sibling’s funeral, during which he spoke of how his heart and that of his family's had been “broken into pieces” following the incident.

In a heartbreaking post on Facebook ahead of yesterday’s funeral, Martin’s distraught fianceé Shirley Dempsey revealed the pair were putting the finishing touches to their own wedding in Northern Ireland later this month.

“I’d give my life just to have you back,” she wrote.

“I just can’t come to terms that God took you away from me and I will never understand why.

“All we had was each other and you told me that everyday. We were going to the north in three weeks to get married and were going to keep it a secret until the day.”