A month’s mind commemorative vigil for the six students killed in the balcony collapse in Berkeley on June 16th will be held tonight in California.
The vigil will be held in Martin Luther King Jr Civic Centre Park, Berkeley main public square, at 8.30pm (4.30am Irish time).
This is the same park where hundreds of Irish students working on summer J-1 students in the San Francisco Bay Area gathered for a candlelight vigil the night after the tragedy.
The event is being organised by the Irish Consulate in San Francisco and the Irish Immigration Pastoral Centre, which provided support to the students’ families.
Before tonight’s vigil, the consulate is also holding a reception for police, paramedics and fire department staff who responded minutes after the balcony collapsed.
Five Dublin students – Lorcán Miller, Niccolai Schuster, Eoghan Culligan, Eimear Walsh and Olivia Burke, all 21 – and Ms Burke’s Irish-American cousin, Ashley Donohoe (22) were killed when the balcony they were standing on collapsed at a 21st birthday party.
Seven others – Aoife Beary, Hannah Waters, Clodagh Cogley, Niall Murray, Jack Halpin, Conor Flynn and Seán Fahey – were injured in the accident, some seriously.
Ms Beary, Ms Waters and Ms Cogley are being treated in the same hospital in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco, while Mr Murray is in a hospital in the city.
Mr Halpin is in a medical centre in Walnut Creek, east of Berkeley. Mr Flynn and Mr Fahey have been discharged from hospital.
Mr Fahey returned to Ireland the week after the accident and he is expected to be joined by Mr Flynn, who has been unable to travel because of his injuries, and Mr Halpin shortly as they recover from their injuries.
A month’s mind mass was held for the six Irish students at St Philip’s Church in San Francisco on Thursday night.
In his homily at the service, Fr Brendan McBride of the Irish Immigration Pastoral Centre and a resident of San Francisco for 20 years described the Berkeley Six as a “beacon” for all students who will follow them on J-1 visas.
“They will loom large in all our lives,” he said.