Close friend pays tearful tribute to crash victim
Standing at the altar of St Mary’s on the Hill Church, beside three childhood school photos of the Knocknaheeny native, Niall Collins fought back tears to describe the person in the coffin yards away.
Speaking on behalf of the O’Callaghan family, he said the 19-year-old was a loyal friend whose popularity reached such heights that he would regularly go out with one girl and come home with three more.
However, noting the grim reality of the past week, dressed in a suit, he shifted from side to side, and tearfully acknowledged that these moments were now part of the past.
The comment was echoed by Fr Pat Fogarty, who presided over the funeral, a day after the burial of 16-year-old CJ Dolan, who also lost his life in last Thursday’s road accident at Harbour View Road, yards from where yesterday’s ceremony took place.
For the second day running, the parish priest underlined the damage caused by last week’s tragedy, stating that the ramifications are still being felt in the area.
“Last Friday will stay with me until the day I die. There are some days you will always remember where you were.
“Those moments usually come like a bolt from the blue.
“Last Friday, I was told of Derry’s death, six hours earlier I heard of CJ’s,” he said.
In front of a packed-out church, Fr Fogarty explained that the communion candles beside the altar from earlier in the day were effectively the same candles used for Derry when he was a child.
Noting the contradiction between the lengthy life in front of him then and the reality of Derry’s death, the parish priest added that the passing had come like a “bolt from the blue” and has traumatised the area.
Among items brought from the crowd during the ceremony to represent Derry’s life were cigarettes and a Celtic jersey.
The remains of the young man were later taken to St Mary’s cemetery in Curraghkippane for a private family ceremony.
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