More than 1,000 pupils, parents and school staff took part in a road safety walk yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the tragic death of a five-year-old boy.
Conor O'Neill was struck by a car as he played on his bike outside his home in Rosehead in north Belfast before school in June last year.
The P1 pupil at Holy Cross Boys' PS in Ardoyne had been due to go on a three-day trip with classmates on the day he died.
Yesterday Conor's parents Ciara and Kevin led hundreds of walkers wearing t-shirts with a photo of the young pupil and the slogan `Conor gives thumbs up to road safety'.
Pupils taking part also wore hi-vis vests.
They were joined by environment minister Mark H Durkan and pupils and staff from Ballymacward PS in Lisburn.
Six-year-old Diarmuid Frazer, a pupil at Ballymacward, died in March last year two days after being struck by a car in Lisburn.
Holy Cross principal Kevin McArevey said the whole school community was proud to support the O'Neill family's idea for the walk, which he said would both remember Conor and promote road safety awareness.
"The fact that more than 1,000 pupils, parents and members of this and other local school communities participated in the walk is testament to both the depth of feeling of sympathy for Conor's family and the desire to partake in a gathering aimed at helping to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again in this area," he said.
"At next week's prize giving ceremony for our departing primary 7 pupils, we will be presenting one pupil with the Conor O'Neill memorial trophy.
"This will be given to a boy who, like Conor, lit up every room he entered due to his radiant smile and sparkling personality.
"This perpetual trophy will be rewarded every year to ensure Conor's memory lives on within the school."
