Galway’s candlelit vigil for all the victims of collapse
THE victims of the Berkeley tragedy were remembered at a candlelight vigil in Galway city centre last night.
The event was organised to take place after yesterday’s funerals of two of the six students who lost their lives in the balcony collapse.
One of the seven others who were seriously injured in the tragedy, Niall Murray, is a student at NUI Galway.
Niall, from Rathfarnham in Dublin, is being treated at the Eden Medical Centre in California. He suffered severe injuries in the fall from the balcony at Kittridge Street, but is reported to be making progress in his recovery.
Hundreds queued to sign a book of condolence at Eyre Square in front of a photo montage of the students who died. Among those waiting in line was Nicola Durnin from Westside in Galway who had an anxious wait to hear news of her niece, Faye Yorke who is among the hundreds of Irish students on a J1 working visa in California.
Faye, 21, is a student at Waterford Institute of Technology, and Nicola had to endure a painful few hours after hearing of the tragedy, hoping her niece would post a message on Facebook to confirm that she was okay.
‘She’s just 21, exactly the age of those poor students, Ms Durnin said.
‘I just had to wait for her to pop up on Facebook to tell her family that she not involved in the tragedy. We were lucky. There are a lot of Galway people, especially students, over in the Berkeley area and Faye and her friends got together and helped out at the remembrance service for the students who died,’ she added.
Event organiser Tommy Roddy said: ‘I have no connection with any of the students, but I was touched by the whole thing, just like a lot of other
people.’ As the evening wore on, the crowd attending the event swelled and the queue to sign the book of condolence stretched deep into Eyre Square.
Among those attending were the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Frank Fahy, and members of the City Council.