Boat tragedy victim Martin laid to rest

OLIVER MURPHY was supposed to accompany his father, Martin, on last Sunday's ill-fated trip aboard the Pisces fishing boat that sank off the Wexford coast, but the vessel could only take nine passengers so he stayed ashore.

Yesterday Mr Murphy joined a packed congregation at the Church of St John the Baptist at Galbally, Enniscorthy, as his 66-year-old father, one of five who perished off Fethard-on-Sea, was laid to rest.

“This has been a great tragedy that has taken from our midst people we knew so well,” parish priest Fr Aidan Kavanagh told mourners, including widow Mary Ellen, her four other children, Fintan, Elaine, Ailish and Colette, as well as relatives of the other four victims. “So many families have been so cruelly robbed of loved ones that words are inadequate to temper the grief and pain felt today. Many questions have been asked but so far there have been no answers. I am at a loss to explain the tragedy.”