A priest spoke yesterday of the grief and heartbreak of two young children as they faced Christmas without their murdered father.
Hundreds of mourners packed into St Patrick's Church in Dungiven, Co Derry, for the funeral of Catholic Mr Gary Moore, who was shot as he worked on a building site in north Belfast last Wednesday. His funeral followed that of Protestant taxi-driver Mr Trevor Kell (35), who was buried on Saturday following his shooting also in north Belfast last week. Father Andrew McCloskey said Mr Moore's murder had brought shock and anger to his family and the entire community, who were devastated by grief.
Among the mourners were the 30-year-old victim's partner, Ms Paula McGonagle, and their two children, Shannon and Aaron, as well as Mr Moore's parents, Nevin and Marie.
Father McCloskey said: "The whole community is suffering with you. We know that you mourn the loss of a decent and quiet person who divided his time between providing for his family and his love of motorbikes and cars.
"Father McKenna, our parish priest, has received many messages of condolence, some of whom said that as Protestants they wished to dissociate themselves from such a terrible deed and to let you know they are praying for you." On behalf of the Moore family, he sent a message of condolence to the family of Mr Kell and to Mr Paul Scullion, who was shot and critically wounded last week.
The Chief Constable of the RUC, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, said he believed Mr Kell had been murdered by republican paramilitaries, a claim rejected by the Provisional IRA, "Real IRA" and Continuity IRA.
Mr Kell (35), a father of three, was shot dead last Tuesday night as he sat in his car after answering a call to Hesketh Road, a loyalist area near the peace line off the Crumlin Road.
He had no paramilitary involvement. Mr Kell was buried in Roselawn Cemetery after a funeral service in his Torrens Drive home in the Oldpark area of the city. His family asked the media to stay away from the funeral.