A book of condolence lies open on a small table inside Havana Sun salon on Austin Friars Street in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.On the counter stands a lit candle in front of a black-and-white photograph of a young woman: Michaela Newcombe, from Springfield on the northwestern outskirts of the town, who worked as a receptionist in the salon.The scene is just one example of how the town is still coming to terms with the deaths of three local people in a car crash near Málaga in southern Spain early on Sunday morning.They were Newcombe and her partner Mark McCullagh-Crichton, as well as his sister-in-law Amy McCullagh. Ian McCullagh, husband to Amy and brother to Mark, was taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries.The two couples had flown out to the Spanish resort for a holiday last week.A death notice for McCullagh-Crichton, published on Tuesday, said: “With great sadness, we announce the untimely loss of Mark following a tragic crash in Spain alongside his girlfriend Michaela and his sister-in-law Amy.”He was described as “a loving son, brother, uncle and godfather” who will be “deeply missed by his heartbroken parents” and extended family.A death notice for Newcombe said it was with “the heaviest of hearts that we share the news of our dear Michaela’s death”.“Michaela will be forever cherished and missed by her grief-stricken nanny Francie and grandad Eddie,” it said, and “sadly missed” by her heartbroken parents, extended family, and her “wide circle of friends and work colleagues”.Both families said donations, if desired, should go to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, an Irish charity that assists with the repatriation of remains when deaths occur abroad. Funeral details have yet to announced.Michaela Newcombe and Mark McCullagh-Crichton. Photograph: rip.ie As news of the crash began to reach Mullingar on Monday, a statement was posted on the salon’s Facebook page describing Newcombe as “the face and the heart of our salon”.In the salon, a young man shared memories of Newcombe with a staff member as another woman sat on one of the soft leather chairs for customers with a lost look on her face.On Pearse Street, the main thoroughfare through the town, a middle-aged woman walked slowly along the footpath. “I knew them all – sorry I can’t talk – it’s too upsetting,” she said before continuing on her way.Further along on Oliver Plunkett Street, two men stood talking. One of them, Muhammed Khan (38), who owns Phone Spot, a mobile phone shop across the street, said Mark and Ian often called in to his shop.“They are very nice people,” he said. “Always with the community, helping out. About a week or two before they went on holidays he [Ian] was in my shop, excited to be going on holidays. “His business was up ... he went around in a van. He hosted birthday parties for kids. ‘After the holiday my business will be back to normal again,’ he told me. The whole family was in my shop. They would ask ‘how are you?’ All very nice.”[ ‘A kind, caring, beautiful soul’: Tributes paid to three Irish people killed in Spain car crashOpens in new window ]Florina Marinoiu (47), who works in Khan’s shop, also often spoke with the brothers there.“They are very nice people,” she said. “I saw the news and I said, ‘I’m not going to open it up’, but then I saw the pictures, so I had to open it up. ‘This cannot be happening’ [I thought]. We knew them [so] it’s different. It’s so sad.”She remembers being on her break outside the shop the last time the brothers were there and recalls them greeting her on the street.“They were our customers,” she said. “They were so, so lovely. Lovely people, it’s so sad. They were always saying hi, always waving as they passed.”