Ballymena crosses the divide to pay respects to Michael

GINA McIlveen collapsed onto the coffin carrying the body of her murdered son Michael. “My baby, my baby,” she sobbed, engulfed by the enormity of her loss.

As she clutched the white wood outside All Saints Catholic Church in Ballymena, Co Antrim, the grey skies darkened overhead. Rain mixed with tears on the faces of the many mourners — well in excess of 1,000 — gathered not only for a funeral, but also a defiant show of unity against sectarian hatred.

Michael, 15, a Catholic involved in cross-community work and who counted plenty of Protestants among his friends, was beaten to death with baseball bats in a killing that outraged communities across the North.