DAY THE CHILDREN CRIED
DAY THE CHILDREN CRIED
By DONNA CARTON IN BUCRANNA
Terrible sounds of sorrow as thousands turn out to bury three little boys so cruelly cut down in their youth
DONNA-MARIE Barker cried out and clung to the coffin of her 12-year-old son James, unable to let him go.
Tears streamed down the face of Victor Barker, struggling with the coffin on his shoulder and clasping his wife's hands in an attempt to console her.
Just over an hour earlier the street where Oran Doherty 8 and Sean McLaughlin also 12, played was filled with the heart-wrenching sound of weeping children.
As Oran's coffin, draped in the flag of Glasgow Celtic, his favourite team, left his home hundreds of youngsters clutching single roses began crying, and soon their wails filled the air.
The boys' cortege made its way along Ferris Lane on to Buncrana's main street.
Hundreds of people followed from Knockallagh Drive, where the children lived, but the number swelled to thousands as people joined along the route.
Journey
Towards the end of Knochill Road, where it joins Westbrook Road, the hearse carrying James Barker, joined the others.
At the tiny stone bridge across the river Crana the three pals came together again and made the rest of the journey to St Mary's Church side by side.
Thousands of people crammed the grounds of the church and hundreds others filled its pews.
They sobbed loudly and hugged each other as the hearses arrived.
The picturesque rural setting, nestling in the hills of Donegal, echoed to the sounds of terrible grief and sorrow.
Parish priest Fr Shane Bradley told how the people of Buncrana were "in a strange and alien place today".
It was a place, he said, of indescribable grief, a land of dark shadow and appalling pain.
He said: "Other people from Spain, Augher, Beragh, Esker and Omagh were also in this terrible place.
"And many people have been here before us - people in Belfast, Greysteel, Enniskillen and Loughinisland, to name but a few. The list is too long."
The families of Oran Doherty. Sean McLaughlin and James Barker were, he said: "In an eerie, lonely and desolate place full of inconsolable torment that no one should have to visit."
Twisted
They 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.
"More than 3,000 families have been bereaved in the North and countless others in Britain and Ireland. This seems to be the worst, coming when there was supposed to be a new light.
"Is this our darkest hour? Will it herald a new dawn, a new light? I hope and pray so."
Before the funeral mass, representatives of the Northern Ireland Fire Service and Ambulance Service visited the families at their homes. Irish President Mary McAleese also paid her respects at the three children's homes before going on to the service.
Northern Ireland's First Minister David Trimble, Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon, Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and representatives of the Irish government attended the mass.
Four members of Celtic Football Club flew from Scotland.
Bishop Seamus Hegarty thanked them for coming and issued a special welcome to Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon.
He said: "We rely on you to continue to build on the gains made. Peace is the only alternative. We don't want a repeat of last Saturday."
To applause inside and out he added: "Mr Trimble, you are particularly welcome and we wish you well."
The Bishop called on those responsible for the Omagh outrage to "receive the grace of repentance and seek forgiveness".
After mass, the boys' coffins were carried on the last stretch of their final journey, to the cemetery behind St Mary's.
James Barker's father last night said he does not want his son's killers punished.
Instead, English lawyer Victor Barker has pleaded with them to give up violence.
Mr Barker moved his family to Ireland only months ago to start a new life
He said last night: "Those children did not deserve what they went through.
"To have let off that sort of bomb in that area at that time is the most cruel and inhumane thing I've seen.
"I hope the people who did it will now stop. I don't want them punished. I just want them to say now that they will finish it and won't do it to anybody else's children.
Consolation
He added: "If my son has died for that reason, then it will be a small consolation."
The picture of James's bandaged face minutes before he died shocked the world.
Earlier in the day, James's mother Donna-Maria had spoken out about her son's dreams for the future.
He had wanted to be a lawyer, like his father.
She said: "This was my boy and not the little boy whom everybody saw wrapped in bandages. This is what we have lost."
By DONNA CARTON IN BUCRANNA
Terrible sounds of sorrow as thousands turn out to bury three little boys so cruelly cut down in their youth
DONNA-MARIE Barker cried out and clung to the coffin of her 12-year-old son James, unable to let him go.
Tears streamed down the face of Victor Barker, struggling with the coffin on his shoulder and clasping his wife's hands in an attempt to console her.
Just over an hour earlier the street where Oran Doherty 8 and Sean McLaughlin also 12, played was filled with the heart-wrenching sound of weeping children.
As Oran's coffin, draped in the flag of Glasgow Celtic, his favourite team, left his home hundreds of youngsters clutching single roses began crying, and soon their wails filled the air.
The boys' cortege made its way along Ferris Lane on to Buncrana's main street.
Hundreds of people followed from Knockallagh Drive, where the children lived, but the number swelled to thousands as people joined along the route.
Journey
Towards the end of Knochill Road, where it joins Westbrook Road, the hearse carrying James Barker, joined the others.
At the tiny stone bridge across the river Crana the three pals came together again and made the rest of the journey to St Mary's Church side by side.
Thousands of people crammed the grounds of the church and hundreds others filled its pews.
They sobbed loudly and hugged each other as the hearses arrived.
The picturesque rural setting, nestling in the hills of Donegal, echoed to the sounds of terrible grief and sorrow.
Parish priest Fr Shane Bradley told how the people of Buncrana were "in a strange and alien place today".
It was a place, he said, of indescribable grief, a land of dark shadow and appalling pain.
He said: "Other people from Spain, Augher, Beragh, Esker and Omagh were also in this terrible place.
"And many people have been here before us - people in Belfast, Greysteel, Enniskillen and Loughinisland, to name but a few. The list is too long."
The families of Oran Doherty. Sean McLaughlin and James Barker were, he said: "In an eerie, lonely and desolate place full of inconsolable torment that no one should have to visit."
Twisted
They 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.
"More than 3,000 families have been bereaved in the North and countless others in Britain and Ireland. This seems to be the worst, coming when there was supposed to be a new light.
"Is this our darkest hour? Will it herald a new dawn, a new light? I hope and pray so."
Before the funeral mass, representatives of the Northern Ireland Fire Service and Ambulance Service visited the families at their homes. Irish President Mary McAleese also paid her respects at the three children's homes before going on to the service.
Northern Ireland's First Minister David Trimble, Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon, Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and representatives of the Irish government attended the mass.
Four members of Celtic Football Club flew from Scotland.
Bishop Seamus Hegarty thanked them for coming and issued a special welcome to Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon.
He said: "We rely on you to continue to build on the gains made. Peace is the only alternative. We don't want a repeat of last Saturday."
To applause inside and out he added: "Mr Trimble, you are particularly welcome and we wish you well."
The Bishop called on those responsible for the Omagh outrage to "receive the grace of repentance and seek forgiveness".
After mass, the boys' coffins were carried on the last stretch of their final journey, to the cemetery behind St Mary's.
James Barker's father last night said he does not want his son's killers punished.
Instead, English lawyer Victor Barker has pleaded with them to give up violence.
Mr Barker moved his family to Ireland only months ago to start a new life
He said last night: "Those children did not deserve what they went through.
"To have let off that sort of bomb in that area at that time is the most cruel and inhumane thing I've seen.
"I hope the people who did it will now stop. I don't want them punished. I just want them to say now that they will finish it and won't do it to anybody else's children.
Consolation
He added: "If my son has died for that reason, then it will be a small consolation."
The picture of James's bandaged face minutes before he died shocked the world.
Earlier in the day, James's mother Donna-Maria had spoken out about her son's dreams for the future.
He had wanted to be a lawyer, like his father.
She said: "This was my boy and not the little boy whom everybody saw wrapped in bandages. This is what we have lost."
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/057
Published Date: 20-Aug-98
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