I INTENDED to write about Brexit in this week’s column because I worked on a short report for the this week’s edition of BBC One’s The View which this week was broadcast from the Terex site in Edendork, Co Tyrone.
The report was on the changing face of nearby Dungannon, where I grew up. Thousands of people from different parts of Europe have settled in the town and surrounding area in recent years and they have fully integrated into everyday life there. I was really impressed by the young people I met – with their ambition and with their engagement with the issues that affect them and their families.
I never imagined that I would instead be writing about three other young people, all from the same area, whose lives were lost tragically on last Sunday night.
I can’t get the victims and their families out of my head.
As a teenager, our lives revolved around the ‘night out’ calendar. Birthdays, end of exams, Halloween, Christmas, New Year, St Patrick’s Day – most of us headed for Cookstown. The ‘Over 18’ disco has been a rite of passage for generations. We all attended when under age.
Buses dropped the disco-goers off, there was always a queue. A queue often brought with it a ‘push’, which was shortlived. We eventually got in.
The big occasions like St Patrick’s Day were the best nights. These were the busy nights when you had to be there really early to get in. There were no tickets, we paid our money at the door, danced the night away. Twenty five years later, we still reminisce about those nights. The Greenvale, Glenavon and Clubland were part of the fabric of our adolescence.
I think this could be the reason why the tragic events of St Patrick’s night, just last Sunday, have rocked the Mid Ulster community to its core. This tragedy has had the potential to strike for decades – but has that ever been carefully considered? Going out like this was just the done thing for teenagers.
I woke up to the horrific news on Monday morning, and the first thing I did was make sure that the teenagers in my own family were all safe and sound. Then, I wondered who the poor victims might be. The texting was non-stop. News of who had died began to trickle through.
Read more:
- Connor Currie's 'infectious smile warmed everyone's hearts', funeral told
- Lauren Bullock 'was happiest when helping others' mourners told
- Morgan Barnard was 'a humble young man who would always listen', his funeral is told
It’s at times like this that the true meaning of close-knit community comes to the fore. I have witnessed it time and time again, how people take charge and organise everything that needs done while the family of the deceased is dealing with intolerable grief. It’s a practical hug. Every family experiences it when their time comes.
I am certain that the Bullock, Barnard and Currie families did not expect this to be coming their way when they said ‘Cheerio, have a good night’ to Lauren, Morgan and Connor last Sunday evening. This tragedy had the potential to strike any family. It could have been any of our teenage sons, daughters, nieces or nephews.
We had been down filming in the new state-of-the-art St Patrick’s Academy last week. The school was shiny and new with facilities we could only have dreamt of but some things never change.
Mrs Devlin was celebrating a big win for the camógs by prepping another batch of students for the poetry competition at Féis Dhún Geanainn, and Mrs Coyle was making sure that her students who had agreed to film with us had everything they needed.
No doubt, both women, and all the teaching staff at the Academy and neighbouring St Patrick’s College went the extra mile this week in an effort to help all their students to try to deal with the unimaginable blow of losing three young students so tragically.
The response of both these schools and schools in the wider area was admirable and exemplary.
I felt anger as I read about Lauren, Morgan and Connor. They were involved in and committed to their respective communities, their personalities had touched people, they were accomplished and full of life, they were highly regarded by their respective schools.
There is a dark cloud hanging over the Dungannon area which won’t pass for some time. Serious questions need answered. For now, though, all we can do is send love and support to the families and hope that something like this never happens again.
Read more:
- Connor Currie's 'infectious smile warmed everyone's hearts', funeral told
- Lauren Bullock 'was happiest when helping others' mourners told
- Morgan Barnard was 'a humble young man who would always listen', his funeral is told
