Funeral held for Dublin crash victim

The Bishop of Ferns Denis Brennan was among the mourners who turned out yesterday for the funeral of a man killed when he fell under a car.

Bill Stafford (28), a father-of-two, died in the early hours of Sunday morning when he was run over by an old Ford Scorpio limousine near his home in Sandyford, south Dublin while on his way home from a night out.

The Church of the Ascension of the Lord, Ballahy, was filled to capacity for the funeral service this morning and a guard of honour was formed outside the church by members of the St Olaf GAA club.

The chief mourners were Mr Stafford's fiancée Líosa McNamara and the couple's two children Joseph and Mary, his father Liam, brother Eoin and sister Ruth.

Mr Stafford's mother Margaret, who is gravely ill in hospital, was unable to attend.

Bishop Brennan, who is a friend of the Stafford family, said there was no words to describe how they felt and he hoped that they would find some comfort in the support of neighbours, relatives and friends.

The chief celebrant Fr Brendan Purcell said Mr Stafford had been like a “sun surrounded by a circle of planets”.

Fr Purcell, a well-known philosopher, said Mr Stafford’s most enduring quality had been the manner in which he had taken responsibility for his two families, the one he was born into and his family with fiancée Líosa.

He read out an e-mail from a manager at Mr Stafford’s employers Accenture which stated: “I will truly miss him”.

Mr Stafford’s sister Ruth said her brother did not need a eulogy.

“Everybody here today knows how amazing Bill was,” she said.

She read out a poem chosen by her mother in hospital.

Also remembered at yesterday’s funeral service was John Smith from Co Meath, the other man to die in a road accident last weekend.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Stafford are still being investigated by gardaí though locals say it may have been a tragic accident.

Several eyewitnesses have already been interviewed.

The incident happened at 2.30am on Sunday morning on the Clonard Lawn housing estate where the old car had been parked up for weeks.

Anybody with information should contact Blackrock Gardai on 01 6665200.