The parents of the Connemara murder victim, Ms Siobhan Hynes (17), said yesterday it would ease their pain somewhat over the Christmas if they knew the killer had been apprehended.
As an entire community mourns the death of the schoolgirl, who was murdered following a night out in the early hours of December 6th last, there are no Christmas decorations or lighting to be seen around her home village of Leitir Moir.
Siobhan should have been leading the family's celebrations, putting up the tree and decorating it as she did last year, and excitedly planning for her school "debs" in January.
Instead, her heartbroken parents, Aindi and Brid, and sisters, Aine (19) and Fiona (14), are numb with grief in the wake of the murder, which took place a few miles from their home, in Carraroe.
"We are not going to have a Christmas," Mrs Hynes said. "People tell us that it's Christmas week but it doesn't mean anything to us. We are completely numb with the agony and the pain."
Siobhan was looking forward to her school debs in January, to getting the material for her dress. She was looking forward to Christmas and would have put up the tree and her own decorations, like she did last year."
None of the family members has been able to sleep or eat properly since they received the news of Siobhan's death on the afternoon of December 6th. "We don't care about anything. Life doesn't matter right now," Mr Hynes said.
Her parents firmly believe that Siobhan knew her killer. They believe she would not have taken a lift from a stranger when she left her friends, near Ostan an Doilin, to go to An Feadog chip shop at about 12.30 a.m.
"It really hurts that the killer is still out there," Mrs Hynes said. "Siobhan would not go into a stranger's car, so we believe that she probably knew him."
Her father said it would ease the pain somewhat if they knew the murderer had been caught. "At least then we would know that this would not happen to another family, because for the sake of other families we don't want this to happen again," he said.