ABOUT 1,000 mourners attended the funeral in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan, yesterday of Shane Rogers (32), who was found dead in a holding cell in Cloverhill Prison last week.
Mr Rogers from Inniskeen died last Tuesday a week after he was charged with the murder of Crossmaglen GAA player James Hughes (35).
Mr Rogers had pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Hughes from nearby Crossmaglen and to wounding taxi driver Anthony Callan from Ardee, Co Louth, and a former girlfriend, Patricia Byrne, from Louth village.
The father of three children was shot dead in Dundalk early on Sunday, December 11th. He was in a taxi that had pulled up at a house. Ms Byrne had also been in the taxi which was being driven by Mr Callan.
As the cortege passed through the village of Inniskeen and headed towards the Church of Mary the Immaculate, its main street was lined with local people.
In his homily to the congregation Fr Martin Treanor, the local parish priest, said it was particularly sad to have a funeral on St Stephen’s Day. “Christmas is all about family and joy and celebration, but it is hard to reconcile this with the feelings of grief and sadness of someone we loved.”
Fr Treanor, from Truagh Co Monaghan, praised Mr Rogers’s work as a mechanic and also his involvement in water sports and said: “Shane was always helpful to anybody that need his assistance.”
Referring to the circumstances of Mr Rogers’s death, Fr Treanor said many lives had been turned upside-down.
“Shane’s death brings to a close two terrible weeks for all the families involved. Today does not end the pain of all the families involved, we cannot excuse in any way Shane’s actions, but he too became a victim.”
Mr Rogers had been unable to live with himself after the shooting, it was said when he first appeared in court.
Seán and Margaret Rogers said they had instructed their solicitor, Martin Crilly, to write to Minster for Justice Alan Shatter and seek “a full independent and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of Shane’s death”.
They said they “would like to again extend our sympathy to Mr Hughes’s family and also the families of Ms Byrne and Mr Callan”.
Mr Rogers had been on remand in Cloverhill Prison since December 13th following his appearance at Dundalk District Court where he was charged with murder.
Mr Crilly had told Judge Flann Brennan that his client had become a suicide risk and he asked for him to receive psychiatric services while on remand in prison.