BABY BREDA FOUGHT FOR A LIFE CUT SHORT BY EVIL
Baby Breda fought for a life cut short by evil
By Jim Fitzpatrick
in Aughabrack
Mum still critical in hospital
THREE months off her second birthday, little Breda Devine arrived yesterday at St Mary's Church, Aughabrack, in a small white coffin.
Breda's mother Tracey (27) wasn't there to see father Paul carry the child's coffin into the church. She is in hospital in Belfast, heavily sedated with 60 per cent burns and fighting for her life. She doesn't know that her youngest child was buried yesterday.
Breda's mum didn't see the hundreds that lined the approach to the peaceful country church stand in silence, waiting for Breda to arrive.
She never saw the boys from Clan na nGael's Under-12s standing in their guard of honour, wearing their bright yellow and green jerseys, hands behind their backs, trying hard not to shiver as the rain came down and wind blew. They were there to honour manager Paul (32) as he arrived to bury his youngest.
She wasn't there to see Paul crouch down with arms around Aaron (6), reassuring him that things would be okay.
Little Breda, who'd been born three months early and fought her way to life, now dead three months before her birthday.
Breda's uncle Gary, at whose wedding she was to have been a flower girl on Saturday, wasn't there to see her either.
She'd skipped into Omagh on Saturday with mum Tracey and uncle Gary and his fiancee Donna Marie to get shoes for that special day.
Shoes she won't be needing now as she goes to a better place while Gary and Donna Marie lie with Tracey in that Belfast hospital.
Breda's uncle Gary didn't see his little niece Niamh, Breda's three-year-old sister, nor her young brother Shay (2) stand bewildered beside daddy Paul and brother Aaron.
Parish priest Father George Doherty asked mourners to pray for Tracey, Gary and Donna Marie. He also asked them to pray for "those responsible for all this suffering".
He read the gospel acclamation "Suffer little children to come onto me, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
Father Doherty said God had shown his divine love when Breda was born premature, but through the "dedication of the nurses in Altnagelvin Hospital and the loving care of her parents she struggled so bravely against the odds".
He finished his homily with a prayer from the Ritual of Children: "To you, oh Lord, we humbly entrust this child Breda, so precious in your sight.
Take her in your arms and welcome her into Paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping, nor pain, but the fullness of peace and joy with your son and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever, amen."
Bishop Edward Daly, retired Bishop of Derry, said the sight of Breda's tiny white coffin filled people with "sadness, anger, puzzlement and dismay".
He said the bomb was evil of the "most horrifying and obscene nature" but said there was good too in Market Street on Saturday.
He told mourners they must never lose sight of the fact that good always triumphed over evil and called for an end to all conflict.
The unspeakable deeds of those cruel murderers have caused an avalanche of tears and grief and pain throughout the north west and as far away as Spain.
"Parents and grandparents, children and infants, men and women, teenagers, girls and boys, locals and strangers, Protestants and Catholics, all were victims in this massacre of the innocents.
There was good in Market Street too on Saturday afternoon and since - the work of those who tended to the injured and dying, the ambulance personnel, the nurses and doctors and surgeons, the police, the firemen, the clergy and so many others."
Breda's mum Tracey wasn't there to see Paul carry the tiny white coffin from the church, cradling it to the grave nearby, with little Aaron walking alongside, his hand on the coffin lid.
She couldn't have heard the shuddering sobs of people crying as the small coffin was lowered into the ground. Nor did she see the pain etched into little Aaron's silent face.
Images no mother should ever see. Her own injuries prevented her seeing them. But who will tell her what they saw?
By Jim Fitzpatrick
in Aughabrack
Mum still critical in hospital
THREE months off her second birthday, little Breda Devine arrived yesterday at St Mary's Church, Aughabrack, in a small white coffin.
Breda's mother Tracey (27) wasn't there to see father Paul carry the child's coffin into the church. She is in hospital in Belfast, heavily sedated with 60 per cent burns and fighting for her life. She doesn't know that her youngest child was buried yesterday.
Breda's mum didn't see the hundreds that lined the approach to the peaceful country church stand in silence, waiting for Breda to arrive.
She never saw the boys from Clan na nGael's Under-12s standing in their guard of honour, wearing their bright yellow and green jerseys, hands behind their backs, trying hard not to shiver as the rain came down and wind blew. They were there to honour manager Paul (32) as he arrived to bury his youngest.
She wasn't there to see Paul crouch down with arms around Aaron (6), reassuring him that things would be okay.
Little Breda, who'd been born three months early and fought her way to life, now dead three months before her birthday.
Breda's uncle Gary, at whose wedding she was to have been a flower girl on Saturday, wasn't there to see her either.
She'd skipped into Omagh on Saturday with mum Tracey and uncle Gary and his fiancee Donna Marie to get shoes for that special day.
Shoes she won't be needing now as she goes to a better place while Gary and Donna Marie lie with Tracey in that Belfast hospital.
Breda's uncle Gary didn't see his little niece Niamh, Breda's three-year-old sister, nor her young brother Shay (2) stand bewildered beside daddy Paul and brother Aaron.
Parish priest Father George Doherty asked mourners to pray for Tracey, Gary and Donna Marie. He also asked them to pray for "those responsible for all this suffering".
He read the gospel acclamation "Suffer little children to come onto me, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."
Father Doherty said God had shown his divine love when Breda was born premature, but through the "dedication of the nurses in Altnagelvin Hospital and the loving care of her parents she struggled so bravely against the odds".
He finished his homily with a prayer from the Ritual of Children: "To you, oh Lord, we humbly entrust this child Breda, so precious in your sight.
Take her in your arms and welcome her into Paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping, nor pain, but the fullness of peace and joy with your son and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever, amen."
Bishop Edward Daly, retired Bishop of Derry, said the sight of Breda's tiny white coffin filled people with "sadness, anger, puzzlement and dismay".
He said the bomb was evil of the "most horrifying and obscene nature" but said there was good too in Market Street on Saturday.
He told mourners they must never lose sight of the fact that good always triumphed over evil and called for an end to all conflict.
The unspeakable deeds of those cruel murderers have caused an avalanche of tears and grief and pain throughout the north west and as far away as Spain.
"Parents and grandparents, children and infants, men and women, teenagers, girls and boys, locals and strangers, Protestants and Catholics, all were victims in this massacre of the innocents.
There was good in Market Street too on Saturday afternoon and since - the work of those who tended to the injured and dying, the ambulance personnel, the nurses and doctors and surgeons, the police, the firemen, the clergy and so many others."
Breda's mum Tracey wasn't there to see Paul carry the tiny white coffin from the church, cradling it to the grave nearby, with little Aaron walking alongside, his hand on the coffin lid.
She couldn't have heard the shuddering sobs of people crying as the small coffin was lowered into the ground. Nor did she see the pain etched into little Aaron's silent face.
Images no mother should ever see. Her own injuries prevented her seeing them. But who will tell her what they saw?
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0109
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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