"A four-foot box, a foot for every year." The words of Seamus Heaney's heartbreaking poem Mid-Term Break, on the death of his brother, rang out in Galway's Augustinian church last night at a special service for murdered Swiss student Manuela Riedo.
Distraught colleagues of the 17-year-old, who was found dead near the city centre on Tuesday morning, attended the prayer service, along with teachers, host families and members of the public.
Fr Dick Lyng of the Augustinian Fathers said of Ms Riedo's parents: "We hope to send a signal to them that they are not alone in their grief." Fr Lyng spoke of the "terrible blow" which they had sustained, and said that the local community wished to show solidarity with them in the unimaginable loss of their only child. Gardaí said yesterday that it was not expected that Ms Riedo's parents would travel to Galway at the moment.
Many of her friends lit candles and placed them in front of seven squares of white paper, laid on the altar and bearing her name. "I hope your loved one will find the light" read one of several hundred condolence messages written in several languages at several locations, including the Augustinian and Renmore parish churches, and the Galway Language Centre, where she studied briefly.
A photograph of the student by the Claddagh was released yesterday evening by the investigation team, as about 50 officers engaged in extensive inquiries. Her body was found on Tuesday morning on an embankment below the military walk which runs between Renmore and Galway city centre.
Families hosting language students in several parts of the city were interviewed by gardaí yesterday in an effort to build up a picture of her brief time in Galway.
She was last seen leaving her host family in Renmore Park between 7pm and 7.30pm on Monday to attend a meeting with fellow students and teachers at the King's Head pub in Galway.
She never made it to the meeting, and her body was spotted by a passer-by at 9.30am on Tuesday.
Her fellow students, who are now all staying in one hotel, have been offered counselling and are expected to fly home to Switzerland today.
Ms Riedo was with a group of 43 colleagues, who were enrolled in three language schools in Galway city centre and allotted to different host families. The group had been due to return home on October 20th.
Manuela, the only daughter of Hans and Arlette Riedo from Hinterkappelen, a suburb of Bern, was attending commercial college in Fribourg while completing her apprenticeship in sales.
She had been working part-time for the local government of the canton of Fribourg, while also attending two days of classes per week in college under the Swiss apprenticeship system.
The Fribourg college has been sending students to Galway on language courses for several years, and a local newspaper, La Liberté, reported its college director, Dominique Sudan, saying how "very shocked" they all were.
Mr Sudan confirmed that Ms Riedo's two teachers, who had been travelling with the group, had to identify her body after it was taken to University College Hospital, Galway on Tuesday for a postmortem.
The Swiss foreign office is supporting the return home of the rest of Ms Riedo's group, foreign office spokesman Jean-Philippe Jeannerat said yesterday, and the Swiss embassy in Dublin is also assisting.
The books of condolences are due to remain open today until 5pm at the Galway Language Centre and at Renmore parish church.