Derry Journal Editorial: Words of love give voice to communities amid the shocked silence

And yet in the midst of the shocked silence, the pain, those who knew the three young people who died as a result of road tragedies in the north west over recent days are finding their voice, finding a way, finding words to express and to testify just how precious, how loved each of them were.

Three families and two communities on either side of Lough Foyle have been devastated by the deaths of Alana Harkin and Thomas Gallagher in Inishowen and Candice Tosh in County Derry.

That sense of loss will forever be etched into the minds and memories of those who knew and loved them. But they will remember too how special each of those young people were to them.

And you only have to read a few of the many tributes to see that they were indeed special, gifted people.

All of them speak to how those who knew them felt it was their privilege to have done so.

Their relatives, friends, schools and work colleagues speak of the positive impact each of them had and how they brought great joy and warmth to those they knew and those they met over the course of their short lives. You cannot but be struck by those words - words of love, etched in pain, words that reclaim and proclaim the people they were in life.

The tragic loss of three young lives is a reminder of the fragility of life.

We should all hold each other a little tighter this week, and do what we can to support the people and the communities whose hearts are broken at this terribly sad time.

Our thoughts and our prayers go with them.