Flowers mark family’s grief as fear remains

Six bouquets of flowers marked the freshly dug grave of Margaret McGuire, lying finally beside her husband Thomas.

The cream roses, lilies and carnations represented the sorrow of a family bereft.

“You are in our thoughts and prayers,” said one message, spliced between fresh petals, laid only hours earlier at the cemetery adjacent to St Mary’s church, Culdaff.

The grief of the family was mirrored in the anxious expressions of relatives who streamed into the Nazareth House, about five minutes drive from Buncrana, for news.

The nursing home took on a different feel yesterday as staff and officials wore head-to-foot white overalls and visitors were tightly vetted.

Relatives hurried to the entrance, shielding themselves against the biting wind and sleet blowing south over Co Donegal. Overlooking Lough Swilly on the scenic Inishowen peninsula, the home consists of a series of low-slung white-painted buildings, curtains veiling its inhabitants.

Newborn lambs grazed in nearby fields but among worried relatives, the mood was darker.

Fr Paddy O’Kane, parish priest at Holy Family in Derry, arrived to anoint his father Dominic, 93, and said he had to arrange the visit on the phone.

His father had been there five years and Fr O’Kane said he had been coughing a lot recently.

He added he only found out about the alert via the media.

“We are all concerned and I came down here to reassure the family and to anoint him.

“The care here is very good but naturally, I am concerned. It has hit everybody unexpectedly.”

Denise Lynch, arrived to visit her uncle James McLaughlin with her children.

She said she came after she was alerted by reports about the tragedy.

“We just want to know he is okay.”

Another relative, who named herself as Jane, said people were naturally alarmed.

“They are very frail, at that time in their lives, they are very vulnerable.”

A man helping an elderly woman on a walking stick across the car park, said his thoughts were with everybody affected.

“It is very scary, the atmosphere, with everything locked down like this, you just have to hope for the best, hope that nobody else catches it,” he said. “The home is so good to people as well, this came totally out of the blue, you have to feel for all the others.”

Inside the home, a nun could be seen peering from a window and priests arrived, among them Msgr Eamon Martin, the interim administrator of the Diocese of Derry.

Inishowen councillor Jim Murray said the community was rallying around to provide support.

“Nazareth has a great reputation and is known to be very professional.

“I do not think we are rushing to blame anybody. If issues do arise, there should be a full investigation.”