Their names honoured 25 years on
Those were the words of an emotional Gill Pitt, whose sentiments were echoed by many of the relatives of the 18 people who lost their lives in the Buttevant rail disaster.
Exactly 25 years on she was among a crowd of nearly 1,000 people who yesterday came to the scene of the horrific accident for special commemoration.
Her father, Samuel Corke, died in the accident and she, along with her husband, Philip, her mother, Annie, and two children Amanda and Andrew, were injured.
A total of 240 people were on the express train when a points malfunction sent it hurtling into a siding at the railway station in north Cork.
Gill spent four weeks in hospital. Her mother was on a life support for two weeks and her son suffered fractures to his leg. But she readily admits they were lucky, even if she did lose her father. “We all could have been wiped out,” she said.
Many shed tears as relatives of the dead lit special candles, each of which were placed next to a white rose in a garden of remembrance created at the station entrance.
A choir from the local St Mary’s Church sang a number of hymns, including the heart-rendering Abide With Me.
The accident happened at 12.45pm on August 1, 1980, and nearly to the exact minute an express train stopped in the station as a mark of respect.
Canon Michael Harrington and Archdeacon Bantry-White led a service attended by Minister for State Michael Ahern.
CIÉ chairman Dr John Lynch said he was sorry for those who lost loved ones in the crash and for those who were injured.
“It has brought home to me how important safety is ... All you have to say is Buttevant and it changes the mindset completely,” he said.
The commemoration was organised by a local committee chaired by Tom Sheahan. Funding from Iarnród Éireann and Cork County Council enabled them to erect a cross-rail monument to the dead, whose names and where they came from are listed on a plaque at the garden of remembrance.
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