Holohans maintain a dignified silence

THE parents of slain schoolboy Robert Holohan maintained a dignified silence yesterday.

In what must be one of their most difficult periods since Wayne O’Donoghue stood trial for killing their eldest son Robert, Mark and Majella Holohan declined to make any comment on his release from jail, or on the apology he issued outside the prison gates.

The Holohans’ solicitor, Ernest Cantillon, confirm- ed that the couple would not be responding to the statement. He declined to comment further.

Reports last week suggested that Mark and Majella were planning to holiday abroad this week with their children, Emma and Harry, to avoid the glare of the media spotlight surrounding Mr O’Donoghue’s release. However, close friends of the family said they are staying in Ireland.

They are trying to keep the family routine as normal as possible for the sake of their children, who attend local schools, one source said.

The family was not at home in Ballyedmond, just outside Midleton yesterday morning. The family dog, Taz, dozed on the door- step of the house and a child’s peddle tractor was parked nearby.

Several floral tributes surrounded the picture of a beaming young Robert, which sits in the centre of his grave in the wind- swept cemetery adjoining the Holy Rosary Church in Midleton.

An ornamental horse head — a tribute to Robert’s love of horses — sits on a plinth. “Good to have known you, from a friend,” its plaque reads.

Some of the flowers are beginning to wilt almost two weeks since they were left there after the third anniversary Mass.

Frost-bitten by the recent cold spell and bowed by heavy rain, they look tired and forlorn.

But one bouquet stood out, its carnations and lillies refusing to bow, its colours still bright in the cold winter sunshine.

Its card read: “Sadly missed.... Love Mam, Dad, Emma and Harry, XXXX.”