Hundreds of people today attended the funeral of Sonia Blount, who was found dead in the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght on February 16th last.
The Holy Rosary Church in Ballycragh was filled to capacity with mourners spilling out into the church grounds and beyong the church gates where they listened to the ceremony over a speaker system.
Fr Brian Edwards said it was a “hugely traumatic time” for those present. “No words can express the shock and sadness that we are all experiencing at this time,” he said, describing the 31-year-old mother-of-one as a person who “loved and was much loved”.
Fr Edwards described the affect her death had had on her loved ones as akin to being plunged into darkness during a blackout. “Everything ceases and everything stops”.
He said, for a little while, “we feel a bit lost, a bit helpless and maybe even a bit frightened. We can also be quite angry because of this disruption to our lives. We then start asking questions as to why this blackout happened in the first place”.
Quoting William Blake who wrote “we are put on earth a little space, that we may learn to bear the beams of love” Fr Edwards said: “Maybe that is the focus that we are all invited to today. Not so much the horror of death’s visitation but rather those beams of love”.
“Maybe it is the quality of our living rather than the detail of our dying which is of most significance,” he said. “Yes, we will still ask, why did this happen now, why at all? Maybe in all honesty we don’t know.”
Eric Locke (31), St John’s Park East, Clondalkin, appeared in court last week charged with murdering Ms Blount (31) at Room 346 of The Plaza Hotel in Tallaght on February 16th, 2014. He was remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court tomorrow.