O’GARA CHILDREN WERE IN LOCKDOWN IN CHRISTCHURCH
FOUR of Ronan O’Gara’s children were held in lockdown during yesterday’s gun attacks in Christchurch.
The former Ireland international, who is in New Zealand where he is coaching with rugby side Crusaders, was just leaving for the city’s airport when the atrocities happened.
He said: ‘My mum and dad are over as well, so they got my youngest boy.’
O’Gara said his wife Jess ‘went to get the other four who are in the same school. There was a lockdown so I think she went into the staffroom and they were there from 3pm to 6pm’. He said: ‘They got home an hour and a half ago, so thankfully everyone is safe.’
The Corkman said the city was still recovering from the 2011 earthquake which killed almost 200 people.
‘But people here are very resilient and very nice, and now this – out of the blue,’ he said.
O’Gara described Christchurch as very similar to any Irish town. ‘For this to happen on streets that you know makes it all the more incomprehensible,’ he added.
Ahead of Ireland’s crunch Six Nations game against Wales today, captain Rory Best said the attack had resonated with the international squad, given New Zealand’s strong rugby scene.
‘It’s really tragic. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to anyone who has family over there,’ he said.
‘Joe Schmidt and Greg Feek have family over in New Zealand. It’s just a tragedy that is hard to put into words. You feel helpless. There was a real feeling of shock at the team room this morning.’
New Zealand native Brent Pope yesterday told RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke: ‘I grew up in a multiracial society that embraced differences in culture and differences in colour and for this to happen...’
The rugby pundit said the attacks have ‘absolutely rocked the country to its knees’, adding that an apt description of New Zealand now is ‘innocence lost’.
He said the ‘outpouring of love and support to me from the Irish people has just been overwhelming’.