‘It was like the sky fell in on me’

“ALL we want to do now is to get Meg home to our parents and give her the final send-off she deserves,” a tearful James Walsh said yesterday as he prepared to leave Waterford after a 12-day search for his sister ended with the discovery of her body.

His niece and Meg’s daughter, Sasha Keating, didn’t look back as she exited the foyer of the Woodlands Hotel just before noon, two rucksacks on her back and her muddy green wellies in her right hand.

The 17-year-old has been a tower of strength to everyone in what has been a nightmare two weeks, James, Meg’s only sibling, said. “I was out searching for Meg, beating back high grass when the call arrived that her body had been found. It was like the sky fell in on me. I was so confused, so struck by it all that I couldn’t find my way back to the hotel.

“I gave up all hope of finding Meg alive a few days into the search. But it still hit home in no uncertain terms when I got the call her body was found.

“I’ve never seen anything like the support we got from everyone. We’re bringing Meg home tonight to our parents, Maurice and Nuala. Her removal will be on Wednesday at 7pm from the mortuary at the hospital in Fermoy to the Church of St Nicholas in Killavullen.

“Her funeral Mass is on Thursday at noon. We’ve been talking to Fr Dan McCarthy and Fr Dan Goold about the Mass but have no precise details of what gifts will be offered.

“We know a lot of media people have been involved in this case and we are most thankful to them. But we would ask those same people who have helped us all along to help us now by respecting our privacy. We want to give Meg the dignified farewell she deserves.”

The family is so thankful to everyone who helped in the past fortnight, he said. “Since this search started last Wednesday week, people have been coming here day in, day out, from Killavullen, Castletownroche, Fermoy and all over Cork. We even had people come up from Bantry.

“We are also thankful to Meg’s neighbours from Ballinakill, her boss Noel Power and all his staff. People have been so good, it would nearly stop your heart. We are so thankful to everyone who gave so generously of their time. There’s no way we will ever be able to repay them.

“Finding Meg was a relief to us. Sasha can be so, so proud of her mother, as can I be of my sister. We sincerely thank the management and staff at the Woodlands for all their support. To the Civil Defence, the Army, the Red Cross and everyone, we say a huge, huge thank you.

“We also thank Supt Dave Sheahan, Inspector Padraig Dunne, Chief Supt Pat Murphy, John Hunt, Brendan Roche and all their colleagues. “These are a group of men apart. It tells you something about their conviction to their job when we saw them crying when Meg’s body was found.”