Service held for bus crash victim

School pupils at one of the funerals of crash victims

The funeral of the fifth victim of Monday's school bus crash in County Meath has taken place at the village of Yellow Furze near Slane.

More than 1,000 people, many standing outside the packed church, were at the funeral of Aimee McCabe, 15.

Five teenage girls died and 46 people were hurt after the bus overturned at Casey's Cross, Kentstown near Navan.

On Thursday, thousands of people attended funeral Masses for the four other girls who died.

Relatives of the victims were present at Aimee's funeral.

In his homily, the local parish priest Father Peter Farrelly said Aimee led a packed life and would be sorely missed.

He said the loss of the girls might not be in vain if it helped to focus society on its responsibility to children.

Following the crash, MEPs have backed new legislation to make fitted seatbelts compulsory in all vehicles.

The European Parliament's report now needs to be approved by European Union transport ministers.

The report said seatbelts must be compulsory in "minibuses, buses, coaches, light commercial vehicles and lorries".

It also recommended side-facing seats should be banned from small buses and coaches, even when fitted with seatbelts.

The scene at the funeral of Deirdre Scanlon on Thursday

Irish police, the Health and Safety Executive and Bus Eireann are all conducting separate inquiries into the crash.

Pupils from four schools were on board when the bus went into a spin and overturned on Monday.

The girls who died were pupils at St Michael's Loreto Convent School in Navan and nearby Beaufort College.

Four of the girls had been due to sit the Irish Republic's equivalent of GCSEs and 'A' Levels next month.

Loreto Convent will be closed until next week.

The funerals of Deirdre Scanlon, 17, Claire McCluskey, 18, Sinead Ledwidge, 17, and Lisa Callan, 15, took place on Thursday.

The exact cause of the crash is not yet clear, but the bus ended up lying on its side on the grass verge.

One pupil said the bus swerved to avoid two cars which had crashed in front of it.

Businesses in Navan were shut as a mark of respect during each funeral and a special Mass was held in St Mary's Church in the town.