Hundreds attend emotional remembrance ceremony for Bruna Fonseca in Cork
People leave flowers and light candles at the vigil for Bruna Fonseca at The Lough Cork on Sunday morning 8th January 2023. Pic: Larry Cummins Echo/Examiner
The family of the Brazilian woman who died in violent circumstances in Cork city last week say they have drawn strength from a remembrance ceremony in her honour held in Cork on Sunday.
Hundreds of people held white roses at the poignant vigil for Bruna Fonseca, 28, at the city’s Lough amenity - one of her favourite places to visit.
Organiser Aline Colognese placed framed photographs of a smiling Bruna on a table draped in the Brazilian flag where a week on from her death, her cousin, Marcela Fonseca, 28, her niece Maria Fonseca, 18, and her good friend, Julina Souza, 31, wept as they thanked people for attending, and for their support since last week.
Marcela said: “Seeing so many people attend the vigil has given us strength. It helps to keep us strong because we need to stay strong. We are far from home. But we feel home here.”
It came as gardaí, who are still investigating Bruna Fonseca’s death, appealed for anyone who was in Liberty St, in Cork city centre either on foot or in a car, between 4.30am and 6.30am last Sunday, January 1, 2023, to make contact with them at the Bridewell Garda Station.
They are hopeful revellers or taxi drivers who were on the street, in the heart of the city, might have spotted something that might be of assistance to the investigation.
Pedro Barroso and Gabriella Lobianco led the vigil, in Portuguese and English, and which was streamed live to members of Bruna’s family in Brazil.
They read a message from Bruna’s friend of over 20 years, Maria Paula, who described her as “like a sunny day in the rainy season”.
“She was a loving and dedicated daughter and sister, a confidant friend and great companion, a committed and honest professional,” she said.
“She would welcome you with open arms, her laugh contagious to whoever was around, and if we can personify the word resilience, it would be her. There was nothing in the world that would make her give up - her dreams were just too big."
“Even when the sad nights come, the next morning she would be the person standing ready to face life with joy.
“There is no one who has ever met Bruna in her journey would not love her.
“The world was her home, and she would explore it for sure. “She loved to live, and always gave her best self, even if it was dancing, going after her goals, planning her future...
“An empathetic human being, who helped others in any way she could to make us feel calm and cared, her heart was as gorgeous as her physical beauty.
“No challenge was big enough to stop the focus she had. And I'm sure she will live through us, because she is unforgettable.”
Martina Stafford, a member of Rosa, the socialist feminist movement, said it was vital to stand in solidarity with Bruna’s family and friends to help them get through this difficult time.
“And we must also act beyond this time to challenge the type of society here and internationally where sexist and misogynistic attitudes are perpetuated and normalised at every level of society,” she said. “Men must reject these ideas that threaten the lives of women and gender, nonconforming people.
Member of the city’s Brazilian Catholic community, Debora Garcia, sang a hymn about heaven and then Andreia Carvalho recited a prayer before people were invited to lay their flowers and light candles before the table.
Many people then offered their condolences to Bruna’s family, including Cathy Buckley, whose mother Frances, ran a newsagents close to where Bruna was found dead.
“My mum, Frances, used to have a shop nearby and if she was alive she would have been totally devastated by what has happened and she would have been the first person here this morning,” Ms Buckley said.
“She (Bruna) was such a young woman starting out in life, and to see such a young life gone, it’s just heartbreaking.”
Lord Mayor Deirdre Forde, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin, chair of the Seanad Jerry Buttimer, TDs and several city councillors were among the political representatives to attend the vigil.
Mr Martin spoke to the family members afterwards and assured them of ongoing consular assistance.
He said it was heartening to see so many people attend and stand in solidarity with Bruna’s family and with the Brazilian community.
“We are at one of the most beautiful iconic locations in the city of Cork and Bruna took this location to heart and the fact that it was the location for this remembrance ceremony with her family says a lot,” he said.
“We have to call out violence against women. The horrific killing of Bruna again, brings to mind the need to create a culture in our society that has zero tolerance for misogyny, and in particular for violence against women.
“All of us when we think of Bruna’s death, we think of many others as well, and of the absolute necessity to change the culture and to change attitudes as well and to stamp out violence against women."
“She came to make a life here in Cork. She loved her job. It’s clear from what was said here this morning that she was a very warm, beautiful person who touched the lives of many many people and for us in Cork it’s terrible, terrible situation that she was killed in the manner in which she was, in a place that she had grown to love.
“I think it has touched all our hearts.”
A native of Formiga in Minas Gerais province, Ms Fonseca, a qualified librarian, came to Cork with Maria last September to start a new life.
She had been working as a contract cleaner at the Mercy University Hospital, she was sending money home, and was planning a holiday later this month to Amsterdam, and later this year to Morocco.
She joined friends and members of the city’s Brazilian community at a New Year’s Eve celebration in a city centre bar last Saturday.
She video called her family at home in Brazil just after midnight to wish them a happy new year but it’s understood she left the bar a short time later.
At 6.30am on New Year’s Day, gardaí were called to Liberty St, just off Washington St, where they discovered Ms Fonseca’s body in the bedroom of an upstairs flat.
A post mortem later confirmed she died a violent death.
The following day, on January 2, her former boyfriend was charged with her murder.
Brazilian national, Miller Pacheco, 28, was brought before a special sitting of Cork District Court on Monday evening where he was charged with her murder.
He was remanded in custody to Cork Prison and is due to appear before the court again on Monday, via video link.
Meanwhile, more than €57,000 has been raised to help Bruna’s family cover her funeral expenses.
Thousands of people who were moved by the tragedy donated way above and beyond the family’s €30,000 target following the launch of their GoFundMe campaign last week.
The family has now closed the account.
Bruna’s body has been released to her family here and they are liaising with the authorities, and they receiving consular support from the Brazilian embassy and the department of foreign affairs on the repatriation of her remains to her native Brazil, which is expected to take place later this week.
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