Family support ‘will ease the pain’

ANGER at God and doubts about faith would be natural reactions from those bereaved by the Kentstown bus crash, Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, said yesterday.

Visiting St Michael’s Loreto Secondary School, Bishop Smith said the pain of their loss would be with them for the rest of their lives. But he also said he believed the support and solidarity of family and community would help ease the suffering. “People always question their faith when something like this happens but we all have to come to terms with painful loss in our lives.

“In time people will come to realise the gift of life that their child was and that will ease the pain of their loss.”

Bishop Smith said he was particularly heartened by the strength displayed by young people in times of tragedy.

“There is a great resilience in young people. They will bounce back. But it will be difficult and the challenge for the schools will be to make sure there is no child deeply affected that they are not aware of or who does not feel able to ask for help.”

Bishop Smith said the deaths of the five teenagers was the worst tragedy any school had faced during his time in Meath but that sadly the diocese was familiar with heartache. Nearby Donore parish had been deeply distressed by the killing of young German tourist Bettina Poeschel and the conviction of a local man for her murder. In recent years, tightly knit Dunshaughlin had lost five members of its community in accidents and tragedies in the space of a few weeks.

Bishop Smith appealed for privacy for the families affected. “They need a bit of space. They have decisions to make and how they’re supposed to make decisions about burying their 15 or 16 year old, I don’t know.”