Hug.. for my bro
Dec fights tears as he pays touching tribute to ‘gifted, dedicated’ brother
TEARFUL Declan Donnelly gets a comforting hug from best pal Ant Mcpartlin at his brother’s funeral.
The pair embraced following the service for Father Dermott Donnelly, who died earlier this month aged 55.
Dec, 46, joined by his siblings Martin, Eamonn, Camelia, Patricia and Moira, paid an emotional tribute to Fr Dermott.
He told a packed congregation at St Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle that his family “could not believe he’s gone”.
Around 2,000 mourners listened in via a live stream of the service.
It was shared with St Michael’s church in the city, where Fr Dermott married Dec to Ali Astall in 2015.
There was laughter and tears as Dec recalled their time together growing up on the Cruddas Park estate in Newcastle.
They shared a three-bedroom council house with their late father Alphonsus and mother Anne.
Mourners heard he was a “gifted priest” who “dedicated himself every day to the service of others”. Dec fought back tears as he said: “Unfortunately, today our world is a slightly worse place because Dermott is no longer with us.
“He still had so much more he wanted to do, so many more lives he needed to change. We can’t believe he’s gone, we still can’t understand why he’s gone – but we trust God took him because his talents were needed elsewhere.”
He thanked the congregation and added the family had been “simply overwhelmed by kindness”.
Fr Dermott, the middle child of seven, grew up with the four boys in one room and the three girls in the other.
Dec recalled: “Dermott and I, being the youngest boys, were confined to the bottom bunks.
“When my five- or six-year-old overactive imagination created monsters under the bed, I would run out of bed and jump into Dermott’s bunk.
“He would calm me down in the night with stories he invented.”
Dec praised his brother’s sense of humour and adventure.
His wish to be a priest was “definitely there from an early age”, as he wanted to “play Mass” as a child.
He added Fr Dermott was passionate about his work with young people, “giving hope, spiritual guidance and a feeling of self-worth”.
Mourners applauded as the cortege left after the 90-minute service.
He still had so many more lives he needed to change