The funeral of the 11-year-old Cork schoolboy Robert Holohan was attended by thousands of people in Midleton on Saturday, when most businesses closed and the town came to a standstill.
Robert's heartbroken parents, Mark and Majella Holohan, were almost bent double with grief as they pushed the small white coffin up the centre aisle of the hushed Church of the Most Holy Rosary. They were received at the door of the church by the Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee.
Midleton curate, Father Billy O'Donovan, told mourners who had started filing into the church two hours before the 3 p.m. Mass that Robert would have revelled in such attention.
"Already Bishop John Magee has welcomed Robert to the church and Majella said, 'He'd love this - he used to love being the star of the show', and he's the star of the show this afternoon," said Father O'Donovan.
More than 20 priests from Midleton and surrounding parishes joined Father O'Donovan and Dr Magee in the concelebrated Mass for Robert as, outside the church, more than 2,000 people strained to hear the proceedings. Mourners came not only from Midleton but from many other parts of Cork and the country.
When Father O'Donovan told how he had received a message from a garda who had spent the night near Inch Strand preserving the scene, asking him to tell Robert's family that Robert was not alone that night, many people in the congregation wept.
Robert's uncles, Aidan Murray and David Holohan, read the lessons and Robert's hurling hero, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín - who had taken part in an appeal to Robert when it was still thought he might have been alive - read one of the Prayers of the Faithful.
"For all the children of the world, especially all affected in the Indian Ocean disaster, we pray for their wellbeing and also that we work for a society where children will enjoy the freedom and the safety to be children," read Seán Óg.
Robert's parents, Mark and Majella, brought up the bread and wine for the offertory, flanking their little daughter, eight-year -old Emma, who brought up her brother's riding helmet as a symbol of his love of horses and ponies.
Father O'Donovan thanked all those who had helped in the massive search for Robert and who had supported the searchers. He told people that they were all heroes. After the Eucharist, Dr Magee in turn paid tribute to Father O'Donovan and there was a spontaneous round of applause.
A few moments earlier, Dr Magee had appealed to Robert's killer - believed by gardaí to be someone known to the boy and therefore likely to be at the funeral - to give themselves up.
"May the one who has been responsible for this heinous crime against an innocent child come forward and face up to the responsibilities incurred, pay the debt to society that is owed and seek the mercy and forgiveness of an all merciful God," said Dr Magee.
Among those who heard Dr Magee's plea were many of the senior Garda officers heading the inquiry, including Chief Supt Kieran McGann of Cork north division, local Midleton Supt Liam Hayes and Supt Kevin Donohoe of the Garda press office.
The President, Mrs McAleese, was represented by her aide-de-camp, Col Ray King. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was represented by his aide-de-camp, Comdt Michael Murray.
Also present were the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Martin; the Minister of State for Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, and the Minister of State for Trade and Commerce, local Cork East TD Mr Michael Ahern.
Outside the church, Robert's father Mark joined the dead boy's uncles, Aidan and David, and his grandfather, Willie Murray, to carry the coffin to the graveside.
More than 200 wreaths lay beside the grave, many from local clubs and organisations but some from further afield, including Achill Island, Sligo and a school in Massachusetts where pupils had heard of the tragedy.
Robert's parents sat patiently, holding hands by his grave, as they accepted the sympathies of people who converged near the plot in two queues that never seemed to shorten as more and more people joined.
