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<\/p>\nPadraig McDonald (20) passed away following an incident on the Drum Road outside Cookstown on December 26.<\/p>\n
A teenager has also suffered \u201clife-changing injuries\u201d and several others remain injured.<\/p>\n
Emergency services attended the incident, on the main Cookstown to Omagh road around 1am.<\/p>\n
Shortly before 12.40am, the PSNI received a report of a two-vehicle collision there between a silver Volkswagen Golf and a black Volkswagen Golf.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, a black Vauxhall Corsa also collided with one of the vehicles involved in the first collision, said a PSNI spokesperson.<\/p>\n
The five occupants of the silver Golf reported injuries at the scene.<\/p>\n
Chief Inspector Simpson of the Police Service\u2019s Collision Investigation Unit said: “Sadly, one man passed away in hospital a short time later. He was Padraig McDonald, aged 20 and from the Loughmacrory area.<\/p>\n
\u201cA boy aged in his late teens has sustained life-changing injuries, while a second boy in his late teens suffered serious facial injuries. The injuries to the other two occupants are not thought to be serious at this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe occupants of the black Golf and black Corsa are not believed to have suffered serious injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Drum Road remains closed as our enquiries continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would appeal to anyone who witnessed the collision, or who may have dashcam or CCTV footage which could assist with our investigation, to contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 101, quoting reference number 30 26\/12\/25.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Loch Mhic Ruairi Naomh Treasa CLG (St Teresa\u2019s GAA club in Loughmacrory) paid tribute to Mr McDonald.<\/p>\n
They said he was the \u201cbeloved son of committee member Paddy and Kerry (nee Conway), brother of Pearse, Hanna, Shan and Daithi\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a family steeped in Loch Mhic Ruairi CLG, it was no surprise Padraig followed their lead and embedded himself in club life,\u201d a spokesperson stated.<\/p>\n
“A talented player in his underage days, Padraig won back to back Ulster Cumann na mBunscols; a Grade 1 U14 League title (scoring a goal in the final) and a Grade 2 Minor League title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst he was no longer a player for Loch Mhic Ruairi, he maintained close links with the club, volunteering when called upon and continuing to give up his time for the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis past year saw him celebrate the All-Ireland success of his brother Pearse with the Tyrone U-17 team, along with supporting his brother and friends as the club minor team completed the Grade 2 League and Championship Double.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was of course overjoyed to see our senior men reach the pinnacle of Tyrone football, winning the O\u2019Neill cup, and joined in with the celebrations with the club and wider community. He played his part in the build up by putting up many flags and bunting – he even painted a number of his sheep black and amber!<\/p>\n
\u201cA keen farmer, Padraig spent much of his days at hard graft, possessing a work ethic admired by all. A selfless individual who offered help to many without expectation of praise or credit. Padraig will be greatly missed by his family, friends, the club and the wider community.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur heartfelt condolences to Paddy, Kerry, Pearse, Hanna, Shan, Daithi and the wider McDonald\/Conway Families.\u201d<\/p>\n
As his remains are returned to Loughmacrory for his wake, the club added that \u2018Paudie\u2019 as he was affectionately know, would \u201cstop at the club where he will pick up his jersey for the final time\u201d, where a guard of honour would also be waiting for him and his family.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Press Eye – Belfast – Northern Ireland – 26th December 2025 – <\/p>\n
General view of the County Tryone scene after a man has died and several others have been injured after a crash in Co Tyrone.
\nP\u00e1draig McDonald passed away following the accident on the Drum Road outside Cookstown in the early hours of Boxing Day.
\nEmergency services attended the incident, on the main Cookstown to Omagh road, around 1am.<\/p>\n
Photo by Press Eye.\n<\/p>\n
West Tyrone MLA Declan McAleer, who is also from Loughmacrory, knows the McDonald family well, and told the Belfast Telegraph that \u201cthe community is stunned” since learning of the tragic accident and Mr McDonald\u2019s death. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe McDonald family is hugely respected in the parish and further afield and are very well known in GAA circles and for their work in the community,\u201d the Sinn Fein politician continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cP\u00e1draig was a real gentleman and had a huge circle of friends. He loved farming and when Loughmacrory reached the senior county championship recently for the first time, he painted his sheep in the club colours to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Loughmacrory community has been on a real high since winning the county championship at the end of October and Padraig was in the middle of the celebrations, but that joy has now turned to pain as we prepare for Padraig\u2019s wake and funeral.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a prayer service in St Colmcille’s chapel [in Carrickmore] for the lads and the church was packed to capacity with many hundreds also standing outside.<\/p>\n
“News of Padraig\u2019s death came in during the service; the sense of community pain and empathy for the family was palpable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be many tough days ahead for the McDonald family and the community will rally round them and support them in whatever way we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to pray for the McDonalds and for the full recovery of the other lads injured in this terrible accident and I would like to extend my thoughts and prayers to the families at this sad time\u201d.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Plans set to be submitted to move \u00a3100m restoration of old Bank of Ireland building in Belfast forward<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in MP \u00d3rfhlaith Begley also expressed her condolences to the family and friends of Mr McDonald.<\/p>\n
The West Tyrone MP said: \u201cIt\u2019s devastating to learn P\u00e1draig has tragically died.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy immediate thoughts are with the McDonald family as they begin to process this terrible incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn entire community and parish is heartbroken and in mourning today and I know that we will all do everything that we can to support these families in what will be difficult days to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also want to pay tribute to the emergency services for all their efforts and for attending the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts and prayers are also with those injured, and I hope they make a full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Padraig McDonald (20) passed away following an incident on the Drum Road outside Cookstown on December 26. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[8819,5825,1144,1210,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-656516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-amy-cochrane","9":"tag-niamh-campbell","10":"tag-northern-ireland","11":"tag-tyrone-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115787729431626008","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}