'It's such a sad waste of life'

The father of murdered Cobh teenager Sheola Keaney urged the Government to provide extra funding to set up specialist units to help bereaved families and friends cope with the trauma of having a loved one murdered.

Peter Keaney made the call after seeing Thomas Kennedy sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for the murder of his 19-year-old daughter in Cobh in July.

"It is only now I really understand the pain and devastation that other families who have lost loved ones in this way have gone through and the ripple effect it has on the community," said Mr Keaney as he appealed to the Government to provide therapists to help bereaved families.

Sheola's mother, Carol, had earlier exhibited extraordinary good will when, after the sentence had been handed down and while friends and supporters were still filing from the court, she made her way across the tide of people up to the back of the public gallery.

There, she made her way to Kennedy's parents, Thomas snr and Helen, and embraced them.

The gesture capped a morning of raw emotion as both Mr and Ms Keaney had earlier stilled the packed courtroom with poignant testimony of the impact that their daughter's death has had on their lives, when they both read prepared victim impact statements to the court.

Ms Keaney's testimony, delivered as if addressing her dead daughter, spoke of how Sheola, being an only child, treated her cousins and friends like sisters and how she loved socialising, nipping home for a quick shower after work and tottering out on her stilettos, "full of life".

Ms Keaney wondered if Kennedy had ever thought of the effect seeing Sheola's decomposed body would have on her. "I could not even see all of you when I said goodbye," she said, explaining that the July heat had caused extensive decomposition.

Ms Keaney said Sheola had lived in Cobh for just two years but knew more people in the area than her mother. She recalled how the town came to a halt with shops closing for her funeral. "It's such a sad waste of life, Sheola - we all miss you terribly, love you with all my heart, Mam."

Kennedy, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and tie, sat throughout Ms Keaney's victim impact statement with his head bowed. He shifted occasionally but maintained the same position as Mr Keaney told of how Sheola's death affected him.

Mr Keaney recalled how, when Sheola was born and he cradled her in his arms, he thought she was the "most precious gift" he had ever received and how worried he was when she was six and came down with a bad flu and the only thing that could make her better were her teddies.

"I was distraught at the time with worry, thinking what would I do if anything happened to her. I had that same feeling of worry 19 weeks ago but this time there was nothing that could make it better," he recalled.

Clutching a photograph of his dead daughter, Mr Keaney, his voice faltering with emotion, told the court that his role as a father to Sheola was "to mind her, to protect her, to guide her, to love her. I did not always get it right but she was my reason for getting up in the mornings."