TEAM'S LAST SALUTE TO TEENAGE GOALIE
Team's last salute to teenage goalie
By Nevin Farrell
in Seskinore
TWIN brothers Sean and Cahal Logue should have been praising their younger sister on her GCSE results yesterday.
Instead they were helping carry the coffin of 17-year-old Brenda Logue at her funeral to St Mary's Chapel, just yards from her home at Loughmacrory, nine miles from Omagh.
Brenda, who had repeated her exams at Father Dean Brian Maguire high school in nearby Carrickmore, did well in her GCSEs, but that has been rendered irrelevant.
Her 20-year-old twin brothers, instead of wishing their sister well for the future, yesterday faced up to the grim task of bringing Brenda - who was described as a lively and vivacious teenager - up this hill to the modern church in the community she loved.
Her coffin was draped in two jerseys - one the shirt of the Co Tyrone ladies minor football team for whom she kept goals, and the other from the local Loughmacrory ladies team.
Teammates and school friends wore jerseys and uniforms as they formed guards of honour.
Several embraced to comfort each other as the heartrending grief became too much.
Brenda, who was on a shopping trip to Omagh on Saturday, was buried in the cemetery close to St Theresa's GAA pitch where she spent many hours. Former GAA president Jack Boothman was among the mourners.
Father Sean Hegarty told hundreds at Requiem Mass that Brenda was a "happy and friendly" girl who always waved to him.
Describing her as "a child of God" he said she visited St Mary's on Saturday before travelling to Omagh.
Father Hegarty said people had experienced a host of emotions since Saturday's attack, which he described as "the most grotesque, satanic and gruesome deed ever executed in the history of our beloved country.
"Someone decided to play God." and in seconds "the electricity of our lives was unexpectedly turned out." he added.
He urged everyone to become peacemakers.
Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh, Gerard Clifford, told mourners people were ashamed at a deed carried out in the name of Ireland. He hoped the Omagh bomb would be "a watershed" in Northern Ireland's history, "and that the bloody deeds of last Saturday have set a final seal on death and destruction."
As Brenda's coffin was carried from the church, the haunting music of a flute drifting through the summer air captured the untold sadness.
By Nevin Farrell
in Seskinore
TWIN brothers Sean and Cahal Logue should have been praising their younger sister on her GCSE results yesterday.
Instead they were helping carry the coffin of 17-year-old Brenda Logue at her funeral to St Mary's Chapel, just yards from her home at Loughmacrory, nine miles from Omagh.
Brenda, who had repeated her exams at Father Dean Brian Maguire high school in nearby Carrickmore, did well in her GCSEs, but that has been rendered irrelevant.
Her 20-year-old twin brothers, instead of wishing their sister well for the future, yesterday faced up to the grim task of bringing Brenda - who was described as a lively and vivacious teenager - up this hill to the modern church in the community she loved.
Her coffin was draped in two jerseys - one the shirt of the Co Tyrone ladies minor football team for whom she kept goals, and the other from the local Loughmacrory ladies team.
Teammates and school friends wore jerseys and uniforms as they formed guards of honour.
Several embraced to comfort each other as the heartrending grief became too much.
Brenda, who was on a shopping trip to Omagh on Saturday, was buried in the cemetery close to St Theresa's GAA pitch where she spent many hours. Former GAA president Jack Boothman was among the mourners.
Father Sean Hegarty told hundreds at Requiem Mass that Brenda was a "happy and friendly" girl who always waved to him.
Describing her as "a child of God" he said she visited St Mary's on Saturday before travelling to Omagh.
Father Hegarty said people had experienced a host of emotions since Saturday's attack, which he described as "the most grotesque, satanic and gruesome deed ever executed in the history of our beloved country.
"Someone decided to play God." and in seconds "the electricity of our lives was unexpectedly turned out." he added.
He urged everyone to become peacemakers.
Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh, Gerard Clifford, told mourners people were ashamed at a deed carried out in the name of Ireland. He hoped the Omagh bomb would be "a watershed" in Northern Ireland's history, "and that the bloody deeds of last Saturday have set a final seal on death and destruction."
As Brenda's coffin was carried from the church, the haunting music of a flute drifting through the summer air captured the untold sadness.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0116
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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