"You did not fail them" - President says thank you to Berkeley
As she attended a memorial service for the six victims of the tragedy with President Michael D Higgins, the office of District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said forensic results were still pending.
President Higgins, who returns home today after an eight-day visit to the US west coast, met members of the emergency services and community who attended to the dead and injured and comforted the survivors after the accident on June 16. He and Berkeley mayor Tom Bates both planted trees in Berkeley’s civic plaza, close to the apartment building where students Olivia Burke and her cousin Ashley Donohoe, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller, Eimear Walsh, and Eoghan Culligan fell to their deaths.
He also met privately with the parents of Ashley Donohoe, whose family live in the US and who had joined her cousin and friends from Dublin for a 21st birthday party on the night.
Paying tribute to all those who had helped the survivors and bereaved families, President Higgins said their actions had given powerful definition to the notion of hospitality.
“In the blink of an eye, these young, talented, and bright students, most of whom were thousands of miles from home, and their families and friends suddenly needed the compassion and intensive support of strangers. You did not fail them,” he said. “For this you have my deep gratitude and that of the Irish people. Our bonds of friendship are made stronger by shared pain and loss, but they will also join us together in happier times to come in the future.”
Six students who were seriously injured in the collapse are recoveringin Ireland. Aoife Beary, 21, who was among the two most severely injured, released a photograph of herself in recent days enjoying a One Direction concert.
The Friends of Aoife Beary described the progress made by Aoife — who was in a coma for several weeks — as “amazing”.
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