Longwood in mourning after loss of rally star

The close-knit community of Longwood was in mourning this week following the death of popular local sportsman, Thomas Maguire from Moneymore, in the Topaz Donegal International Rally on Saturday. Huge crowds of mourners are expected in the south Meath village this morning (Wednesday) for the funeral of the co-driver who was killed when the the Citroen car in which he was navigating went off the road and into a ravine just after 3pm on Saturday. The driver of the car, Shane Buckley from Mayo, was critically injured in the crash during the Knockalla stage of the rally, He was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where his condition is said to be stable. The remainder of this year's Donegal Rally was immediately cancelled and a memorial service in the Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny on Sunday morning was attended by 1,500 people from the world of motorsport. Tomeen, as he was known to family and friends, was a son of Tom and Maura Maguire and is also survived by his brothers, Mark and Robert, and sisters, Suzanne and Callista. His parents were taken by helicopter to Donegal following the fatal crash on Saturday. His brother, Mark, had already been at the rally. Rallying was Thomas's first love and, according to his close friend, Navan-based international rally driver, Martin Brady, he was one of the up-and-coming stars of the sport. "He was on the road to being one of the best in the sport and he was very popular with competitors and fans of motorsport. It was a measure of his popularity, the numbers who turned up for the memorial service in Donegal on Sunday," he said. Mr Maguire competed in rallying events all around the country and had been co-driving with Shane Buckley for the last two years and recently took part in the Killarney International Rally where they won the prize for the quickest C2 on the Molls Gap stage. He worked as an environmental scientist with a water treatment company was a past pupil of Longwood National School. He went to secondary school in Trim and studied environmenal science at Sligo Institute of Technology. He had played with Longwood GAA Club from the age of 12 and he won an under-21 medal with the club as goalkeeper and he also played badminton. He was a first cousin of Meath junior footballer, Rory Maguire. The Donegal Motor Club has expressed its "deep regret" at his death. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Maguire family and the family of the competitor who was injured at this very difficult time," Danny Gormley, the clerk of the course, said following Saturday's tragedy. "Thomas loved rallying and his loss has deeply affected everyone involved in the rally. His loss will be felt by rallying fans all over the country." Mr Maguire's remains have been reposing at home in Moneymore, Longwood, since yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon and the removal is due to take place this morning (Wednesday) at 11.45am to the Church of the Assumption, Longwood, arriving for Mass at 12 noon. Burial will take place immediately afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Rally drivers are expected to form a guard of honour for the funeral and, because of the huge crowds expected for the funeral, a large field has been made available for parking, next to the GAA pitch in Longwood village.