BUNCRANA UNITES IN SORROW
Buncrana unites in sorrow
The people of Buncrana united in sorrow on a sombre Thursday morning last as they gathered to bury three of their young sons.
An outpouring of grief, the extent of which has never been witnessed before, and hopefully will never again, took place as the coffins of Shaun
McLaughlin, Oran Doherty and James Barker were brought to their final resting place.
The scene outside the Knockalla housing estate was one which would have melted even the coldest of hearts.
Grown men, by nature conditioned to be the strong and silent type under such circumstances, broke down and wept openly.
The wailing of local children, clutching red roses as they prepared to say their final farewell to their school friends, is one which live forever in the memory. At the tiny stone bridge over the River Crana, the three pals met up for the last time as the coffin carrying James Barker joined up with the main mourners to make the final journey to St.Mary's Church.
Inside the packed church. Fr.Shane Bradley spoke of a "strange and alien place'.
He said it was a horrible place, of indescribable grief, a land of dark shadows and appalling pain.
The McLaughlin, Doherty and Barker families were in this place, he said, against their will because of the evil acts of twisted people.
"Our hearts were blown out by that bomb, just when the troubles were supposed to be at an end.
"Is this our darkest hour? Will it herald a new dawn, a new light? I hope and pray so,' he said.
As Fr. Bradley appealed for a brighter future, a future without bombs and guns, without bullets and without hatred, faces so instrumental in bringing about the present peace process were speckled throughout the tiny chapel.
Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, David Trimble, Seamus Mallon.
Funerals and tragic deaths have visited their lives in the troubled years of Northern Ireland but for the people of Buncrana, this indeed was a strange and alien place.
Bishop Seamus Hegarty appealed to the Gerry Adams' and the David Trimbles' of the peace process to continue to search avenues, to compromise and make concessions in their search for a resolution.
President Mary McAleese had visited the boys homes to pay her respects to the bereaved families before attending the mass.
Following the funeral mass, the three coffins were taken for burial in Cockhill cemetary.
Afterward Victor Barker, father of James, said he did not want his son's killers to be punished.
Mr.Barker, who moved his family to Ireland just a few months ago for a better life, instead pleaded with the killers to give up violence once, and for all.
"I hope the people who did it will stop now. I don't want them punished. 1 just want them to say now that they will finish it and won't to it to anyone else's children.
"If my son has died for a reason, then it will be some consolation,' he said.
Earlier the heartbroken parents of little Shaun McLaughlin gave permissions to newspapers to take pictures of their dead son in his coffin.
"I want that picture to show the world what hey have done to our Shaun. I want it to be a picture for peace - to show people what has happened at Omagh,' said John McLaughlin.
The people of Buncrana united in sorrow on a sombre Thursday morning last as they gathered to bury three of their young sons.
An outpouring of grief, the extent of which has never been witnessed before, and hopefully will never again, took place as the coffins of Shaun
McLaughlin, Oran Doherty and James Barker were brought to their final resting place.
The scene outside the Knockalla housing estate was one which would have melted even the coldest of hearts.
Grown men, by nature conditioned to be the strong and silent type under such circumstances, broke down and wept openly.
The wailing of local children, clutching red roses as they prepared to say their final farewell to their school friends, is one which live forever in the memory. At the tiny stone bridge over the River Crana, the three pals met up for the last time as the coffin carrying James Barker joined up with the main mourners to make the final journey to St.Mary's Church.
Inside the packed church. Fr.Shane Bradley spoke of a "strange and alien place'.
He said it was a horrible place, of indescribable grief, a land of dark shadows and appalling pain.
The McLaughlin, Doherty and Barker families were in this place, he said, against their will because of the evil acts of twisted people.
"Our hearts were blown out by that bomb, just when the troubles were supposed to be at an end.
"Is this our darkest hour? Will it herald a new dawn, a new light? I hope and pray so,' he said.
As Fr. Bradley appealed for a brighter future, a future without bombs and guns, without bullets and without hatred, faces so instrumental in bringing about the present peace process were speckled throughout the tiny chapel.
Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, David Trimble, Seamus Mallon.
Funerals and tragic deaths have visited their lives in the troubled years of Northern Ireland but for the people of Buncrana, this indeed was a strange and alien place.
Bishop Seamus Hegarty appealed to the Gerry Adams' and the David Trimbles' of the peace process to continue to search avenues, to compromise and make concessions in their search for a resolution.
President Mary McAleese had visited the boys homes to pay her respects to the bereaved families before attending the mass.
Following the funeral mass, the three coffins were taken for burial in Cockhill cemetary.
Afterward Victor Barker, father of James, said he did not want his son's killers to be punished.
Mr.Barker, who moved his family to Ireland just a few months ago for a better life, instead pleaded with the killers to give up violence once, and for all.
"I hope the people who did it will stop now. I don't want them punished. 1 just want them to say now that they will finish it and won't to it to anyone else's children.
"If my son has died for a reason, then it will be some consolation,' he said.
Earlier the heartbroken parents of little Shaun McLaughlin gave permissions to newspapers to take pictures of their dead son in his coffin.
"I want that picture to show the world what hey have done to our Shaun. I want it to be a picture for peace - to show people what has happened at Omagh,' said John McLaughlin.
Further Information
Publisher: DONEGAL PEOPLE'S PRESS
Ref: DP/035
Published Date: 26-Aug-98
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