Thousands of mourners at the funerals of the three Ballymoney brothers murdered in a sectarian arson attack on their home heard yesterday that their deaths had touched the world.
Politicians, clergymen and several thousand Catholics and Protestants from Ballymoney and beyond attended the funeral service yesterday for Richard Quinn (11) and his brothers, Mark (10) and Jason (9).
The Church of Our Lady and St Patrick in Ballymoney was packed to capacity and hundreds of other mourners stood in the grounds listening to the service through loudspeakers. Hundreds more lined the road outside. Many were in tears. Members of the fire service who fought in vain to save the boys were also present. The boys died when their home in the Carnany Estate was petrol-bombed early on Sunday.
There were emotional scenes as the three white coffins were carried into the church by relatives.
Their family is religiously mixed. Police believe they were targeted because the mother is a Catholic. Ms Christine Quinn (29) and her only surviving son, Lee (13), were supported by relatives during the service.
The children's father, Mr John Dillon, and Ms Quinn's partner, Mr Raymond Craig, broke down several times during the funeral. The parish priest, Father Peter Forde, said there had been "a great outpouring of sorrow and sympathy" from all sides of the political and religious divide in the North and indeed from across the world.
"Everyone here and thousands elsewhere are sharing this grief. One could even say that we are all united by this horrible event. The news of the deaths of these three boys has touched the hearts of peoples across the continents.
"I want Christine and all the family to be aware of the sorrow that is shared by so many, that so many hearts have been touched by their tragedy. Everyone here in this packed congregation, and thousands elsewhere, are sharing in this moment and in this grief, and are hurt by her loss."
Father Forde said that while it was a time of sadness, it was not a time for despair. Richard, Mark and Jason were in heaven and the future was not all bleak. "We meet in sorrow at the deaths of these children, but our shared sorrow is a beacon of hope for our community. In this, our very troubled country, may it light our way ahead."
In his address, the Bishop of Down and Connor, the Most Rev Patrick Walsh, said blame for the murders lay not only with the killers, but also with those who had incited violence with their words. "For all too long the airwaves and the printed page have been saturated with noises - strident, harsh, discordant noises - carrying words of hatred, of incitement, of recrimination - words not found in the vocabulary of Christianity.
"The weapons of hate-filled words inevitably fuel weapons of murderous destruction. In the wake of the horrific murders of these three young children, voices have been raised - voices of sanity, voices of reason. But the time for words is over. It's now time for silence, a silence in which we will hear the voice of God."
There was a strong ecumenical element to the service and prayers were read by a former Methodist President, Dr Norman Taggart, and a local Presbyterian minister, the Rev Trevor McGowan.
Among the politicians present was Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, and his SDLP colleague, Mr Sean Farren; Ulster Unionist Assembly member Mr James Leslie; the Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin; and Ms Monica McWilliams, of the Women's Coalition.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Mall on said that the funeral was a "tragic reminder of an act of mindless barbarity" carried out by people who had nothing to offer society.
Mr Colin Parry, whose son, Tim, was killed in the IRA's Warrington bomb, and veteran peace campaigner Ms Mairead Maguire also attended.
After Requiem Mass, the cortege made its way to St Mary's Church in Rasharkin, where the three boys were buried.