At the funeral Mass in Cork yesterday for a father of six stabbed to death, a priest appealed for reflection and restraint. Fr Damian O'Mahony reminded mourners that enough heartbreak had already been caused by the man's death.
Fr O'Mahony said at the funeral Mass for Mr Michael Faulkner (43) that he had no words to take away the grief and loss experienced by Mr Faulkner's parents, wife and six children following his murder on Monday.
Mr Faulkner, a member of the Travelling community, was stabbed when set upon by three men within 100 yards of his home at Mitchel's Crescent in Tralee, Co Kerry, at 11.40 p.m. on Monday and he was pronounced dead in Tralee General Hospital a short time later.
Mr Faulkner's body was brought back for burial in his native Knocknaheeney, Cork, and yesterday the local curate, Fr O'Mahony, told about 400 mourners: "It is very unfair that Michael should die in such a cruel and heartless way - nobody deserves that, nobody, and it's a sad reflection of our society to see these things happening. Life is cheap, it's worthless and that's the worst of all - respect for life may have been lost by some people.
"There are so many emotions here today and sometimes emotion can get the better of us and we may do something or say something that is totally out of character, and that can lead to even more pain and more suffering and more misery.
"And that's the last thing anyone would want to happen - there's enough heartache, enough suffering, enough tears in this church to last a lifetime," Fr O'Mahony said in St Mary's on the Hill Church in Knocknaheeney, where he concelebrated Mass with Fr Jerry Keane, from Tralee.
Leading the mourners who came from all over the country were Mr Faulkner's parents, Michael and Mary; his wife, Nora, and their six children, Michael, William, Robert, Patrick, Sabrina and Margaret, as well as other members of his extended family.
There were distressing scenes later when distraught family members cried and clutched at Mr Faulkner's white casket as he was laid to rest in St Catherine's Cemetery in Kilcully on the northern outskirts of Cork.
Earlier, in church before the funeral Mass, one man began crying and shouting abuse about those who had killed Mr Faulkner. "The dirty tramps, the bastards, they used everything they had on him," he shouted before being calmed by relatives.
Gardaí investigating the killing believe it may be linked to a long-standing feud among a number families in the Travelling community, and they've appealed for calm in the wake of Mr Faulkner's death.
Three men in their 20s were taken on Tuesday to Tralee Garda Station, where they were held for several hours before being released without charge. A file is being prepared for the DPP.
The funeral passed off without incident yesterday, with just a handful of gardaí being deployed on traffic duty to ensure that Mr Faulkner's cortege was able to leave Knocknaheeney for Kilcully without too much delay.
