Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Even the heavens wept for Morgan, Lauren & Connor
EVEN the heavens wept yesterday as devastated mourners lined the streets for the funerals of Morgan Barnard, Lauren Bullock and Connor Currie.
The priests conducting each service tried to bring some comfort with their words.
But dark clouds lingered over the Co Tyrone communities of Dungannon, Donaghmore and Edendork throughout the day.
The needless loss of the victims of the tragedy at the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown was etched on the pale and haunted faces of their families, their classmates, team-mates, teachers and friends.
Some were so overwhelmed they struggled to stay on their feet.
And those emotions appear to have permeated the very core of life in Mid Ulster. Morgan’s funeral at St Patrick’s Church in Dungannon was the first of the three, starting at 10am.
Loved ones wore bright colours in memory of his “comical side”, seen through his hairstyles, his shirts and his great sense of humour.
But grief was never far from the surface and they followed the hearse as it took him on his final journey in this life, his coffin adorned with flowers reading Morgan, brother and son.
Cries rang out as his remains were carried past a guard of honour from schools across Dungannon, into a church so packed mourners spilled out into the rain.
His parents clung to one another as their son’s tearful friend told the congregation: “Morgan is my best friend and no matter where he is he will always be my best friend.”
There were more heartbreaking scenes as another pal struggled with his emotions delivering a blessing in Irish. Many of the hymns were also in the language Morgan loved.
Finally, as his parents prepared to follow their beloved son to his final resting place at Carland Road Cemetery, South West College students stood in the pouring rain to pay their respects as the cortege passed.
Lauren Bullock was the next to be laid to rest. Her family made the short journey from her home to St Patrick’s Church in Donaghmore, arriving just before 11am.
Rain poured down as her pink and white, rose-covered coffin passed primary schoolchildren, her dancing troupe and a guard of honour from pupils in the village and in Dungannon.
Lauren’s own classmates and teachers wore purple ribbons on their blazers and jackets in celebration of her 17 years.
Fr David Moore told mourners the teen, who would