Funerals held for plane crash victims

THE pregnant widow of a man killed in the Cork Airport plane crash clutched her young daughters’ hands yesterday as she walked behind his coffin.

Brendan McAleese, 39, a Co Tyrone businessman, was one of six men to die in the accident at the airport last Thursday after his Manx2 commuter flight from Belfast crashed in thick fog.

Grieving wife Anne Marie held the hands of Ava, five, and Erin, three, as they walked poignantly behind the cortege.

President Mary McAleese was among the mourners at St MacNissius Church in Tannaghmore, Co Antrim.

Her husband Martin McAleese was a first cousin of the deceased man.

The 1,000-strong crowd included crash survivors, Dónal Walsh, from Waterford, and Laurence Wilson, from Larne, Co Antrim.

Canon Malachy Murphy said Mr McAleese was the heart and soul of any gathering and adored his family.

“Brendan was first and foremost a family man. He adored Anne Marie, Ava and Erin,” he said.

“All his energies were geared to providing for them. He had a warm personality, honest and generous. He looked out for others. There wasn’t a selfish bone in his body.

“Brendan was very successful in his business because he worked extremely hard.”

Requiem Mass for Pat Cullinan, 45, a partner in leading accountancy firm KPMG in Belfast, also took place yesterday at St Patrick’s Church in the Co Tyrone village of Cranagh.

During his funeral, Mr Cullinan was described as an extraordinary, kind and charitable gentleman. Sympathy was extended to all the other victims’ families.

The other four victims were Spanish pilot Jordi Gola Lopez, 31; co-pilot Andrew Cantle, 27, from York; businessman Richard Noble, 49, originally from Derbyshire but lived in the North, and Michael Evans, 51, deputy harbour master in Belfast. Six other passengers sustained injuries.

Mr McAleese was managing director of Central Laundries in Cookstown, Co Tyrone.

Canon Murphy added: “Brendan was very popular. He was the heart and soul of any gathering he was in.

“Where Brendan was, there was plenty of fun and banter. With that mischievous smile he had the ability to make people laugh. He was a great man to be around. Many will miss him.”

Among other mourners at his funeral were the North’s deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.

Rescue crews who pulled survivors from the ill-fated Manx2 flight were given an emotional standing ovation during a memorial service for the victims on Sunday at the Church of the Assumption in Ballyphehane, Cork.