Postal workers stage funeral show of support

They came from all over the North and most of them didn't even know Daniel McColgan

They came from all over the North and most of them didn't even know Daniel McColgan. But the postal workers wore their uniforms with pride as they lined the route of the funeral cortege.

At the Star of the Sea Church at Whitehouse, they formed a guard of honour as the coffin was carried inside.

Mr McColgan (20) was shot dead on Saturday as he arrived for work at a Royal Mail sorting office in the loyalist Rathcoole Estate on the outskirts of north Belfast.

The Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the UDA, claimed responsibility and said all Catholic postal workers were "legitimate targets".

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Thousands of mourners attended the funeral on the bright, cold afternoon. His parents, brother and girlfriend Lindsey Milliken - mother of his 13-month-old daughter Bethany - walked behind the coffin.

The hearse was lined with wreaths with "Daddy" spelt in white flowers. Others said "Son", "Brother", and "Spurs". The card on one wreath read, "In memory of Daniel - our postman and our friend".

Postal workers across the North staged a 24-hour stoppage to express their disgust at the killing, and Royal Mail employees in Britain held a two-minute silence as the funeral service began at noon.

Mourners included the Police Ombudsman, Ms Nuala O'Loan; the North's Security Minister, Ms Jane Kennedy; Alliance leader Mr David Ford; Sinn Féin Assembly member Mr Gerry Kelly; and other local politicians.

The Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, said the killing had violated three basic rights - the right to work, the right to life, and the right to profess one's religion, which must be upheld in any civilised society.

Mr McColgan was a hard-working young man who served the entire community. His killers were in effect saying, "you have no right to be working as a postal worker, you have no right to be working here at this office because you are a Catholic".

Bishop Walsh said: "Daniel was singled out for murder for one reason and one reason only - that he was a Catholic.

" He was murdered by members of an organisation which had been specified by the Secretary of State, an organisation which is driven by a single agenda of sectarian hatred of Catholics.

"The men who murdered Daniel had been reared on a diet of such hatred. Those who feed young and impressionable minds with such poisonous food, so that they are ready to murder a fellow human being, stand equally guilty with the gunmen of this crime."

Bishop Walsh said a dark pall had enveloped north Belfast over the last week and everyone must play a part in lifting it.

"Those of us in positions of leadership carry a grave responsibility," he said.

Political, church, and community leaders must present a united front on such matters, he added. "We must speak with one voice. We must be seen to speak with one voice. This will often demand courage, but surely none of us should be lacking in courage when fundamental issues of right and wrong are at stake."

At the end of the service, Ms Milliken paid her own tribute to her murdered boyfriend. "Daniel may your soul not be afraid. May you be given the blessing and shelter you need. May there be a beautiful welcome in the home you have gone to. May you rest in peace knowing that we truly loved and cared for you," she said.

Mr McColgan was buried at Carnmoney Cemetery.