Separate masses was held for fashion designer Jessica Gallagher, 24, who had been due to start a new job on Monday, and Martin McGill, 49, who was originally from Scotland, in St Michael's Church, Creeslough.
Ten people, aged 5 to 59, were killed in the disaster on Friday in the Irish village with an official population of only 393.
At Ms Gallagher’s service, Father John Joe Duffy, who will preside over many of the Creeslough funerals, said Donegal had always been “in her heart”, even while studying in Paris and Shanghai.
“No matter how far she travelled or progressed, the place she was proud of was her beautiful family home — her touchstone, her rock and her pillar,” he said.
“She could talk for all Ireland. So, if you think the homily might be a little long this morning, she would probably go on longer than me."
The family of Jessica Gallagher, 24, watch as her coffin leaves St Michael's Church, Creeslough. PA
A lone piper led Mr McGill’s coffin into St Michael’s and a Celtic FC shirt was brought to the front of the church.
Father Duffy also presided over Mr McGill's service. “Martin was a carer who was filled with love, filled with kindness and compassion,” he said.
“Despite the awful, horrible tragedy that has struck at the very heart of this community and broken our hearts, from the very first moment aren’t those the key words that have been in action in this community but have always been in action in this community.”
A piper leads the cortege for the funeral of Martin McGill in Creeslough. Getty Images
Ireland's police force, An Garda Siochana, is investigating the cause of the blast at a building complex that included the service station, a convenience store and residential apartments, but so far it is being treated as a “tragic accident”.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin told the parliament: “As the people of Creeslough begin the rituals of funerals and burials, we gather as an Oireachtas [parliament] this afternoon, to offer our sincere sympathy, express our shared respect for the bereaved and the injured and to remember and honour those who have died.
“It is important that those struggling to make sense of the enormous and heartbreaking loss now confronting them, know that the entire nation is with them in spirit."
Father John Joe Duffy led two funerals on Tuesday. PA
The other eight victims were Robert Garwe, 50, and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, 5, who were in the shop to buy a birthday cake; James O'Flaherty, 48; Leona Harper, 14; Catherine O'Donnell, 39, and her son James Monaghan, 13; Hugh Kelly, 59; and Martina Martin, 49.
Witness Colin Kilpatrick was only a few metres from the petrol station when the blast ripped through the building and knocked him over.
“I got out of the lorry and saw the shop and then I knew what happened,” he said. "We ran to the shop and there was a young girl there and she was squealing that her sisters or friends were still inside.
Top row, from left, Leona Harper, 14, Robert Garwe, 50, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, five, Jessica Gallagher, 24, and James O'Flaherty, 48, and bottom row, from left, Martina Martin, 49, Hugh Kelly, 59, Catherine O'Donnell, 39, her son James Monaghan, 13, and Martin McGill, 49, the ten victims of the explosion. PA
“We got her across the road then went back and there was a man stuck under the door. I shouted for the jack of a car and we got the door off him.
“We couldn't lift it without the jack; you think you are strong but we couldn't move it. We stayed with him until the ambulance came just to comfort him.”
A funeral has been arranged for O'Flaherty in St Mary's Church in Derrybeg on Wednesday.
A joint service will be held for O'Donnell and her son at St Michael's in Creeslough, also on Wednesday.
Harper’s funeral will take place at St Mary's Church in Ramelton on Thursday.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
