Glorious sunshine beamed down on the 1,000 people who gathered in Buttevant in north Cork to remember the 18 people who died in the rail disaster there 25 years ago. "It was just like this, a warm sunny day," recalled Jerry O'Toole, a fireman from Watercourse Road station in Cork.
For many who had been involved in the rescue operation, yesterday was a day for recognising familiar faces. For some of those who survived the crash or lost loved ones, it was a day for introductions to people whom they had never met before but to whom they were eternally grateful.
The Buttevant Rail Disaster Commemoration Committee had been working on the project since last January and had made contact with relatives or representatives of 14 of the 18 people who died when the Dublin to Cork train was derailed at Buttevant.
The only families with whom they had not made contact were those of Virgil Livingstone and Gertrude Unterberger from the US and Albin and Maria Zainer from Austria. They were not forgotten during the ceremony which was timed to coincide with the time of the crash at 12.50pm.
Many wept as the names of each of the victims was called out and relatives lit a candle in their memory. Caolfhionn O'Connor from Blackrock in Dublin was just six weeks old when she lost her father, John, in the crash. Joined by her mother, Bridget, she lit a candle in memory of the father she did not know.
Afterwards, Mrs O'Connor said: "It was a very emotional journey for us but it was good for my younger children, who had no recollection of events at the time - the ceremony itself was very sensitively handled with great dignity."
Prayers were said in a multi- denominational service and a minute's silence was observed. Yesterday's 10.15am Dublin-Cork express stopped at the long- closed Buttevant station as a mark of respect. Among those who attended yesterday's ceremony was the driver of the derailed train, Bertie Walsh from Cork, and fellow former Iarnród Éireann employee, dining car attendant Derek Fox, who lost his 17- year-old friend Mark Barron in the crash.
"There's great credit due to the committee - they've done Trojan work tracking down relatives and then organising a memorial like this - it was a mammoth task," Mr Fox said.
Gill Pitt's father, Sam Corke, died in the crash and she travelled from Gloucestershire in England with her husband, Philip. She had been injured in the crash and as a result missed her father's funeral.
"We're very glad we made the trip. It's like a funeral service for my father; it was very moving and we're very pleased with the memorial," she said. Myra Woodworth from Rochestown in Cork, whose husband Bruce, was killed in the crash, unveiled the memorial, which was made in Inchicore rail works by Conor Murphy. She paid tribute to the people of Buttevant and to all who were involved in the rescue operation.
"For the people of Buttevant and north Cork, we have nothing but praise and gratitude. It was you, with the rescue workers, doctors and nursing staff from Mallow and Cork, who made us strong enough to eventually return home to pick up the pieces of our shattered lives," Mrs Woodworth said.
