THE parents of Bernadette O'Brien, the 17 year old girl who died following a concert in the Point Theatre, Dublin, last weekend, said they were not bitter over her death.
They were awaiting the outcome of the Garda investigation into her death in the hope, they said, that it would prevent similar accidents happening.
In a statement issued yesterday, Mr Noel O'Brien and his wife, Ann Marie, who live in Shanagarry, Co Cork, also thanked people for their support and repeated their request for privacy.
Their only daughter, a transition year student in St Colman's Community College, Midleton, Bernadette received head and internal injuries, apparently due to the crush of people, during the concert on Saturday night last. She died on Sunday in the Mater Hospital, where she had been on a life support machine.
Two investigations are under way into the death, one by the Garda and the other by company that owns the Point Theatre. A Garda spokesperson said they were taking statements from people who were at the concert, featuring the The Smashing Pumpkins, and others involved in the event. They could not say when the report would be finished.
The statement from the O'Brien family said they wished to thank all who sympathised and gave them support following the death of their daughter. "Everyone we came in contact with showed great generosity and understanding," they said.
They also thanked the media "for acceding to our request for privacy during her funeral", and appealed "to be left to grieve privately now for our daughter".
"We await the outcome of the Garda investigation into the circumstances of Bernadette's death and we hope it will ensure nothing like this will ever happen again. We hold no bitterness in our hearts over her death."