There was no hint of bitterness or demand for recrimination last night from the family of 50-year-old Leong Ly Min who died following a vicious assault in Dublin city centre at the weekend, writes Miriam Donohoe.
"We regard Ireland as our home. What happened to my father does not change our view of Ireland. We love this country," the Chinese-Vietnamese man's distraught daughter, Phuong, told The Irish Times last night
Phuong, her four brothers and sisters and her mother were gathered in the family's west Tallaght home with relatives and friends to mourn the death of Mr Leong, who owned Chinese take-away businesses in Tallaght and Ballymun.
Women squatted on the floor of the living-room, making white head veils from cotton sheets to be worn during the funeral service. Exhausted family members slept on mattresses on the floor.
Phuong was into the fourth day of a holiday in Canada when she got a phone call last Friday to say that her father was critically ill in hospital after being attacked by two men while walking through Temple Bar with a friend in the early hours. He was rushed to St James's Hospital.
Mr Leong's daughter immediately flew home to be at her father's bedside. He never regained consciousness before his death early yesterday. "It is very hard for us but we are going to be strong. That is what my father would want. Even though he is gone he will always be here with us." Phuong said.
Mr Leong and his wife were among the first group of Vietnamese "boat people" to come to Ireland in 1979 under an Irish Red Cross programme. His family was originally from south China, but he was born in Vietnam.
Many of the so-called "boat people" were settled by the Government in west Tallaght. Mr Leong and his wife were accommodated in a corporation house in Kilmartin Gardens in Fettercairn, Tallaght, where they have lived ever since. Phuong was the second "boat people" baby to be born in Ireland, she said, adding she has never been to Vietnam.
She speaks with a strong Dublin accent. "This is my home."
As the grieving family started prayer last night, Phuong said she did not want to say much more - her mother and brothers and sisters just wanted to grieve in private.
But she said she appreciated all the good wishes and thoughts from the Irish people for her family.