Tears mark Ireland vigil for 28-year-old

body of an Irish and British dual national who was found dead in Goa was on way to her home in Ireland on Wednesday as hundreds of friends and family paid tributes at a candlelight vigil held in the seaside town of Buncrana in County Donegal, Ireland.

The 28-year-old Danielle McLaughlin was found murdered near the Palolem beach in Goa on March 14.

Her murder highlighted growing concern over safety in the popular holiday destination, where many foreign nationals have reportedly died .

A crowd-funding campaign to raise 10,000 Euros to meet the repatriation and funeral expenses reached over 39,600 Euros as a wave of gloom and despair swept over her hometown. The murder relived similar incidents for the kin of foreign nationals who died in Goa in the past, including the 2008 murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling.

The woman’s kin used the vigil to call for justice for their daughter and sister. The mother of the deceased did not attend the event but the family issued a statement.

The spokesman for the vigil told the mourners: “We call for justice from the Indian legal system and appeal to the authorities for a full, diligent, transparent and open investigation into all aspects of this crime and have real faith that with their help full justice will be served and the truth known which will provide some small comfort to the family.”

On memorial cards distributed were smiling pictures of the woman with some of the last words she left on her Facebook account: “I am very grateful and the luckiest person I know .... off on another adventure.”

One of McLaughlin’s younger sisters, Sian, said: “She was one of the kindest person you could ever meet. She told me once that you could do a lot of acts of kindness but it is no longer an act of kindness if you tell someone”.

Christy Duffy, friend of the deceased who organised the crowd-funding effort, said everyone had gathered with one common goal: “(We) are here to say goodbye, goodbye to an eternal optimist, goodbye to a comedian, goodbye to an adventurer, goodbye to a beautiful soul, goodbye to our friend...”

Goa is one of the most popular destinations for British and other western tourists. Over the years, there have been many deaths due to alcohol and drug abuse or due to strong currents in the sea. Britain’s foreign office has a separate section on its India travel advice on Goa.