There was a palpable sense of grief among councillors who gathered in the Craigavon Civic Centre chamber ahead of Monday night’s monthly meeting.
Lord Mayor, Margaret Tinsley, opened the meeting by paying her tributes to the five people who lost their lives on our roads over the weekend – Emma Mallon, Marina Crilly, Keith Morrison and Phil Mitchell in Armagh, as well as Bessbrook man, Gary McLoughlin, who died as a result of an accident on the Forkhill Road, outside Newry.
“As a parent it’s a call we never want to receive, that your child has been killed in such a way,” she said, as she fought back her own tears.
The Lord Mayor asked members to pray for “our PSNI, fire and rescue, ambulance and hospital staff, who had to deal with this horrific tragedy”.
“I honestly don’t know how they cope with what they’ve seen and how they’ve dealt with it. There they will be back on duty again to help everyone in our community.”
DUP Alderman, Gareth Wilson, commented: “As my boss, William Irwin, says – he tragically lost a child and he often recounts that – nothing in the world prepares you for the loss of a child, what that signifies and just the ongoing impacts of it across birthdays and all the special celebrations that go on in families throughout the year. So we just really do need to pause and really remember them in our prayers and as a community just do all we can to sustain them. It’s so horrific for four people, coming home from from a night out, full of joy and fun, and for it all to end in such a horrific fashion – words just don’t do it justice.”
SDLP Councillor, Thomas O’Hanlon, said that for the parents of those who died, “this is not how it should be; nothing prepares you for the loss of son or daughter, no matter what the age or the circumstances”.
“For their brothers, sisters and friends in the months ahead it will be the first birthday, first holiday,or the first Christmas without them, the milestones in life, the weddings and family gatherings that should have been and we all look forward to.
“Emma, Marina, Keith and Phil leave voids in life, in homes and in people’s hearts that can never be filled.
“In Marina, she leaves a little three-year-old son, Cillian. His Nanny – or Granny Pat Prunty – is a member of our Community Development team in Council. My heart breaks for that little man and his entire family circle.
“As a daddy of a soon to be three-year-old boy, I can tell you no matter how hard you try, he’s always mummy’s boy, no matter how hard daddy tried to tell them otherwise.
“With the trips and falls, the grazed knees or when he just needs a cuddle – it’s mummy who does that best.
“This is not the first time our community has been plunged into grief like this. In November, the community of Madden lost Patrick and Ciara Grimley and Ciara McIlvanna in just as equally tragic circumstances and I think of them and their families tonight also.”
Councillor O’Hanlon also urged young people struggling to cope with the tragedies to reach out and speak to someone – “you don’t have to deal with this on your own”.
Ulster Unionist, Gordon Kennedy knew Keith personally, the young man spent “many a night at our kitchen table”. The Crilly family live less than a mile away; the Mitchell family less than two mile away. The impact in that area is almost intolerable.
Councillors Brona Haughey (Sinn Féin), Keith Ratcliffe (TUV); Scott Armstrong (DUP), and Peter Lavery (Alliance) all offered up heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of all five victims.
