Read more - First child murder in Ireland since 2005

Read more - Murdered Dublin child knew her killer

School friends of the murdered Irish girl Michaela Davis formed a guard of honour at her funeral in Dublin on Thursday.

The 12 year old's small white coffin was taken from her home in Porterstown to nearby Saint Mochta's Church, where she made her Confirmation just months earlier.

Davis was raped and strangled in the early hours of last Saturday morning, and her body was then dumped along the banks of the Royal Canal, a waterway that cuts through the city.

Neighbours and friends had earlier called to pay their respects to parents Brendan and Deirdre Davis and to Michaela's 16-year-old brother, also called Brendan.

As her family now struggle to come to terms with her shocking death her school mates have been pouring out their grief on the internet with a series of videos and tributes.

Tributes tell how 'everyone in the school misses you very much. We will never forget you. Rest in Peace and sleep tight in heaven.'

Some messages come from parents who are appalled by Michaela's sad fate: 'I've got a young daughter and this is hard to watch RIP,' said one.

'I cant even begin to understand the loss and emptiness felt by your family, I got two girls of my own, same age. We all feel for your family,' said another.

The anger felt by the young schoolgirl's death is also expressed with people threatening her killer with the electric chair, and hoping he will rot in hell.

Father John Daly, the priest presiding at her funeral, told mourners attending the mass in Saint Mochta's Church that the young girl was like a sunflower reaching out and up, recalling the theme of her First Communion just four years ago.

Read more - First child murder in Ireland since 2005

Read more - Murdered Dublin child knew her killer