the remains of the five tragic family members are carried into the Holy Famoily Church for Funeral service. (North West Newspix)
THE parish priest who celebrated funeral Mass for the five victims of the Buncrana slipway disaster today praised the bravery and human spirit of Louise James who lost her partner, two children, mother and sister in the tragedy.
Fr Paddy O’Kane also paid tribute to Kerrykeel man Davitt Walsh for his bravery in saving Louise’s infant daughter.
He was speaking at Mass in Ballymagroarty for all five victims. Sean McGrotty (46), his two sons Mark (12) and Evan, eight, and the boys’ granny Ruth Daniels (59) all died in Sunday’s disaster. Mrs Daniels’ daughter – 14-year-old Jodi-Lee – also died when the family’s Audi jeep slid on algae and went into he sea in Buncrana on Sunday evening.
Fr O’Kane told the congregation: “When the news broke on Sunday evening that a terrible accident had happened on Buncrana pier my prayers for the dead and bereaved included a prayer for the priest who would have to face the family and
at the funeral try to make sense of this tragedy.
“Little did I think I was praying for myself. Then at seven o’ clock on Monday morning I got a call ‘It’s Louise James here, Fr Paddy’ she said ‘that was my
husband, my children, my mother, my sister that died yesterday
evening.’
“Stunned, I later made my way to her home where the grief was palpable. Grown men stood, red eyed, in silence. Words could not come to my lips to put any shape on what I felt inside.
“A reverend silence felt more appropriate as I gripped her hand. As I kissed her
cheek, I tasted the salt of her tears. ‘I am so, so sorry’ was all I could muster, and I hoped it was enough.
“There comes a time when you struggle with doubt and darkness, when you stand on the brink of emptiness and despair, of anguish, fear and loneliness, that you are
tempted to ask ‘Is there a God? And if there is, where is He now?
“If you are a God of kindness and compassion, come out of your hiding place and show yourself! ? Tomorrow, Good Friday, we will hear
Christ on the Cross scream out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?’ We can make our own that lonely, painful prayer of desolation
today.
“We struggle today to find words to speak the unspeakable. We are bewildered by the intensity of this grief for I know Louise that – as I have already said- there is nothing I can say today to alleviate your pain and sense of loss. This is a desert experience, barren of any comfort, as we search for an oasis of hope in this bleak landscape
and as we struggle to find there any refreshing words of life and healing.
Rioghach – sliver of light
Fr O’Kane: “When I visited the funeral home on Tuesday morning and saw the five coffins, their occupants so peaceful in that sleep we call death, I broke down in tears. I was bereft and deep sighs came from my heart.
“When finally prompted to pray by the undertaker, the words seemed to echo, so empty and hollow.”
He went on: “And yet there is one little sliver of light, one ray of hope bravely breaking through the dark clouds and it is this-little Rioghnach Ann
has been saved.
“As Louise says to me again and again ‘She is my only reason to go on living’. I baptised her at this font on 23rd January in the company of her parents Louise and Sean, her godparents Joshua and Gemma and her extended family.
“The day before I paid them a visit at St. Eithne’s Park where they made me welcome and asked me to bless their beautiful little family home. While I was there I was told that little Evan had muscular dystrophy and how Louise has so far raised
£16,000 for that charity including a tandem parachute jump from 14,000
feet.”
Fr O’Kane spoke of little evan and his call to his mummy
“Two weeks ago we were gathered as a family again when he made his First Confession – that same little Evan who, when his mother phoned him at five to seven on Sunday evening as they sat on the Pier to watch the sunset, said ‘Mammy I miss you so much. I am going to give you the biggest, tightest hug you ever got, when I see you again’,” said Fr O’Kane.
“We were also here last May when Mark received the Sacrament of Confirmation and last July when Ann, Sean’s younger sister died from cancer. I also knew the Daniels family from the time I was a young priest in the Bogside during the 1970s. Later I will invite the principals of their schools, Damien Harkin and Marie Lyndsey, to say
a few words about the children, together with comments from Jim about
his brother Sean and Joshua about his mother Ruth.”
Holy Thursday
The priest went on: “On this Holy Thursday in the liturgy of the church we find Jesus
washing the dusty feet of his friends. If our faith remains only as words it is empty. Today Jesus tells us not to be self-centred, but self-giving, not to be hard hearted but life giving for actions speak louder than words.
“It is not about ‘what’s in it for me or us?’ but about ‘what’s in it for others?’ We are called to reach out in service to those around us so that the Kingdom of God may come among us and perhaps, just perhaps, because of us, as the first reading
you heard challenged us, the blind can see a bit more clearly, the
lame man can walk with only one crutch, the deaf hear the song of
their own hearts, the mute speak a few mumbled words and the poor
feel a little more enriched.”
Sean and Davitt
Fr O’Kane said he wanted to remember what happened on Sunday in terms of the bravery shown by the people who were in Buncrana.
“We saw it in the self-sacrifice of Sean on Sunday evening as he desperately tried to save his family. We saw that altruism again in the bravery of Davitt Walsh who saved
the life of Rioghnach Ann by swimming out to rescue her.
“Davitt, today we salute you as our hero…. We had a meeting in our Parochial
house on Tuesday when Louise and her family met you to thank you for all you did and also your girlfriend Stephanie Knox for her quick thinking as she warmed the baby’s little blue body back to life.
“Louise thanked you both sincerely from the bottom of her heart and for trying to save the lives of her sons. ‘’Don’t blame yourself that you did not do more – we are so grateful for what you did’’ she says.
Davitt once played soccer for Derry city and he looks a fit man, all of which stood to him in his ordeal.
‘’It could easily have been seven deaths, not five ‘’ Louise added, before passing the baby to Davitt to hold. She opened her beautiful blue eyes, smiled up at him and had a big yawn.”
Emergency Services
Fr O’Kane praised local people in Buncrana and the emergency services.
“”We saw that generosity of spirit in Francis Crawford and others who raised the alarm, in the emergency services who responded to the call for help – for they did all that was humanly possible to resuscitate the bodies which thankfully were recovered immediately,” said the priest.
“We saw it in the way this community has rallied around Louise and all those who grieve here today. The kindness of strangers is another ray of light to lift us from our darkness.”
Louise
Fr O’Kane turned to Louise and said: “Louise, your faith is strong as I hear you say how your sons Mark and Evan, partner Sean, mother Ruth and Jody-lee your only sister, are now reunited in heaven with your little baby Joshua who lived for only
seventeen hours.
“You are just going to have to wait a little longer till you get that tight hug promised to you from Evan.”
He added: “When our backs are against the wall and we have nowhere else to turn
sometimes all we can do is cry out with Christ’s disciples. ‘Lord, to
whom else can we go for you alone possess the words of eternal life?”
The five family members are being laid to rest this afternoon at the City Cemetery in two graves – Ruth alongside Jodi-Lee and Sean with his boys Mark and Evan.
- Our coverage of today’s funeral was agreed beforehand with the family and Fr Paddy.
