TRIBUTES have been paid to an 18-year-old who was killed in a tractor accident in Co. Leitrim.
Desmond ‘Dessie’ O’Kelly died following the incident which saw the tractor he was a passenger in involved in a single vehicle collision on the R204 at Aghavilla in Carrigallen at around 3.10pm on Tuesday, April 15.
The male driver of the tractor, who is also in his late teens, was taken to Cavan General Hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
Confirming Dessie’s death “following a traffic accident”, his family said he was “deeply regretted by his heartbroken parents Gene and Teresa, his sister Clara and his girlfriend Chloe”.
They added: “Dessie will be sadly missed by his grandmother Moira O’ Rourke, aunts, uncles, cousins, grand-uncle, grand-aunts and his many friends.”
Staff at Carrigallen Vocational School, of which Dessie was a former student, paid tribute this week.
“It is with deep sadness that we remember former student Dessie O’Kelly who passed away yesterday,” they said in a statement.
“The sympathies of all our school community are extended to his family and friends at this sad time.”
The school opened its doors today to “offer support” to current and last year’s leaving cert students.
Friends have also paid tribute this week, remembering the young man as someone who was always “full of fun and laughter”.
The Smyth family said: “It was a pleasure to meet [Dessie], a kind, friendly, polite young man.”
Funeral mass will take place at 2pm on Easter Sunday at St. Mary’s Church in Drumeela, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.