Multiple events are being held this weekend in memory of 28-year-old Brazilian librarian, Bruna Fonseca, who died violently in Cork city on New Year’s Day.
Over €54,000 was raised to assist in the repatriation of her body to her native Formiga in Minas Gerais in Brazil.
Bruna, who moved to Cork in September of last year, will be prayed for at vigils in Cork on Sunday. She will also be remembered on Sunday at an event organised by ROSA, the Socialist Feminist Movement in Dublin.
The first ceremony will get under way on Sunday at the Lough amenity on the southside of Cork city at 10am. Organisers have asked those attending to wear white and to bring candles and white roses.
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Among those who will be in attendance are Maria Fonseca, the 18-year-old niece of Bruna, and their cousin Marcela Fonseca who are both living in Cork.
At the time of her death Bruna was working as a contract cleaner at Mercy University Hospital in Cork.
Bruna is survived by her parents Marina and Tadeu and her sisters Izabel and Fernanda. Izabel told a newspaper in Brazil that Bruna “was always helping those who sought help from her.”
Meanwhile, a mass will be held in memory of Bruna at the Penny Dinners Craoi na Laoi Centre on James Street in Cork on Sunday afternoon.
It is understood some volunteers at the Penny Dinners soup kitchen had known Ms Fonseca to see as she worked locally. The mass, which will be celebrated by Fr Jack Twomey, will take place at 2.45pm.
In Dublin, the director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Orla O’Connor, will be speaking at an event to remember Bruna. All victims of femicide will be remembered at the ROSA event. The event will take place at 11am on Sunday on Chancery Street.
Ms Fonseca had gone to socialise with friends in Cork on New Year’s Eve and was found dead at a flat in Liberty Street at 6.30am the following day after the emergency services were called to come to the address.
Efforts were made to revive the graduate of the Centro Universitário de Formiga. However, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
A family liaison officer has been appointed and consular assistance will be given in terms of repatriating her body to Brazil. A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of Ms Fonseca at 5 Liberty Street in Cork on January 1st.
Miller Pacheco (29) who is a native of Formiga in Brazil but who had been living at Liberty Street in Cork appeared before a special sitting of the local District Court last Monday. He was remanded in custody to appear before the court again on January 9th.