Seamus Hegarty was buried last Monday and his best friend Kevin Woods will be buried later on this week to allow a sister to travel home from Australia for his funeral. Both men were in their 50s. Seamus was married with four children, while Kevin was unmarried.

The men died on Friday evening just after 6pm on a farm at Crossroads, Killygordon. They were working together lifting potatoes on rented land. It is believed that they were changing the wheel on the potato harvester. This type of machine has a driven rear axle which is common, and they had fitted the machine with tractor wheels for extra grip in the sticky conditions, which again is common in Donegal.

The tragic events that unfolded that evening involved an industrial air compressor and a tractor wheel. It is believed that the tyre exploded off the rim, giving both men very little chance of survival. There is great sadness in this story for two great friends who worked and helped each other all of their lives.

The CEO of the Health and Safety Authority, Martin O’Halloran, said: “We have noticed that there has been an increase in these types of accidents involving large agricultural tractor and industrial machinery tyres exploding when being inflated. The HSA recommend using a cage protector around large tyres when inflating them.

The death of these two men before their time brings the total fatalities on Irish farms to 27.