A footpath between a car park and one of the units at the Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin 15 leads to the pedestrian crossing where Anthony and Georgina Hogg-Moore were knocked down on Thursday evening, with Georgina dying at the scene and her husband dying later from his injuries.
On the far side of the road is the Whitestown housing estate where the couple lived with their teenage son and daughter.
On Friday evening, 24 hours after the hit-and-run collision, family members, friends and neighbours began to emerge from the small, working-class estate and cross the dark, grassy area that separates it from Blanchardstown Road.
Some were carrying lit candles, others blue and white balloons that floated above them on lengths of thin string. Some brought bouquets of flowers to add to those already placed at the lamp-posts beside the crossing where the couple had been knocked down and where, even in the few minutes that it took the grieving crowd to cross the busy road, two cars ran the lights, one of them at speed.
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There was a lot of hugging, a lot of tears. One upset member of the family asked press photographers to leave and they, having made the point that they meant no disrespect whatsoever, opted to do as asked.
Members of An Garda Síochána arrived and arranged it so traffic was blocked on the bus lane beside where the grieving crowd had gathered on the footpath. Such were the numbers there was a danger of someone being pushed out into the passing evening traffic.
Fr John Regan led the mourners in a decade of the rosary and then, with some people saying “for Georgina and Anto”, the strings were released and the balloons floated up into the sky. There was a round of applause and then the ceremony was over, but rather than disperse, people just stood there, for more hugging, more taps on the shoulder, more whispered expressions of disbelief.
“Our hearts are broken with your loss Georgina and Anto,” read the card on one bouquet. “Please look after your babies. Forever in our thoughts. All our love. The girls.”
“Forever in our hearts. Will be deeply missed,” read another. “All our love. Family.”
Among those who left flowers were teenagers from Blakestown Community School, friends of the couple’s 16-year-old daughter.
Meanwhile, a man was being questioned by the gardaí about the tragedy, with one line of inquiry being that he had driven through a red light and collided with the couple as they made their way home from the shopping centre, accompanied by two others who escaped being injured.
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