Buncrana tragedy: Mother has 'emotional' meeting with man who rescued baby daughter

The victims were, from left, Mark McGrotty, 12, and Evan McGrotty, 8, Sean McGrotty, 49, Ruth Daniels, 57, and Jodie Lee Daniels, 14

A Londonderry woman who lost five family members in a drowning tragedy off the Irish coast has had an emotional meeting with the man who rescued her baby in the incident.

Louise James's partner, two sons, mother and sister died when their car left Buncrana pier in County Donegal and entered Lough Swilly on Sunday.

The only survivor was her four-month old daughter Rionaghac-Ann.

A funeral service for the victims will take place in Londonderry later.

Those who died were Sean McGrotty, 49, his sons Mark, 12, and Evan, eight, Ruth Daniels, 57, and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie Lee Daniels.

The family's priest said Ms James had a very emotional meeting with her baby's rescuer.

Davitt Walsh dived into the lough, swam to the family in their car, and brought Rionaghac-Ann to safety.

Fr Paddy O'Kane, who will officiate at Thursday's funeral service, said he was moved to tears when Ms James met Mr Walsh for the first time.

Davitt Walsh held baby Rionaghac-Ann, who he rescued moments before the family's car sank on Sunday

He said: "They looked at each other for some time and Louise began by saying: 'Davitt, I thank you so much for saving the life of my little girl - if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here now.'"

The priest added that she told Mr Walsh she would be grateful to him for the rest of her life and that the rescuer would "always have a special bond" with her baby.

"Then Davitt told us how sorry he was, because he would loved to have done more and he couldn't save the others," Fr O'Kane said.

"But she said: 'No, you did what you had to do. You did the right thing, you had to save her, because if you hadn't, and tried to save more, we could have had seven coffins here, not five.'"

The priest said Mr Walsh began to cry and told Ms James: "I needed to hear that from you."

The pair then embraced and wept together.

Fr O'Kane said he believed he would never again see "such intensity of feeling".

Mr Walsh will attend the funeral at Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty at 14:00 GMT.

Speaking ahead of the service, Fr O'Kane said: "It's going to be very sad to have five coffins here in our church, we've never had that happen before."

But he said the community was "united in grief" and wanted to support the family.

Hundreds of people in the city have signed books of condolence, including Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers.

Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness visited the family home on Thursday morning to meet Ms James and other family members.

People left floral tributes at Buncrana pier after hearing of the deaths

The leader of the Catholic church in Ireland also made what he said was a "heartrending" visit to the family home in Londonderry.

Archbishop Eamon Martin, a native of the city, gave his condolences to Ms James and her extended family on Wednesday evening.

"At a time like this I realise that any words of mine are totally inadequate," he said.

"The enormous tragedy that has struck this family has stunned us all into silence.

"Even in the midst of such awful tragedy this family has made us all think of how precious and important our loved ones are to us."

Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers signed a book of condolence in Londonderry