Priest at funeral of Leitrim student pleads for end to 'senseless' assaults

THE PRIEST officiating at the funeral Mass of Leitrim student Andrew Dolan yesterday questioned why so many people no longer feel safe walking the streets of Irish towns and cities.

Parish priest of Carrick-on-Shannon Fr Frank Garvey described 20-year-old Mr Dolan as a naturally quiet young man who never raised his voice in anger.

“How utterly unthinkable that he should be the victim of such an unprovoked and vicious assault,” Fr Garvey told the thousands of mourners who gathered at St Mary’s Church to support Andrew’s parents Joe and Rosie and his brothers Jack and Gavin.

The priest told the congregation that everyone who respected the “precious, fragile gift of life” was asking why. “Why can young people not go out and enjoy themselves celebrating with their friends, without the menace of an unwarranted attack from those who seem intent on random acts of violence?” he asked.

Mourners heard that the last thing Mr Dolan’s father said to him when he dropped him to a train on December 22nd last was “mind yourself Andy and be careful”.

Joe Dolan told his 20-year-old son that another young man had recently been assaulted in Carrick-on-Shannon and was fighting for his life in Beaumont Hospital.

At yesterday’s funeral Mass prayers were said for that young Longford man, Mark O’Shea.

Hours after his father’s warning, Mr Dolan himself was to be the victim of a “vicious, senseless assault” and ended up in the same unit of the same Dublin hospital, where he died on New Year’s Day.

Fr Garvey questioned why such random acts of violence “are happening with alarming frequency”. In an emotional plea to young people he pleaded with them “in Andrew’s name” to look out for each other and to live within the rules. “May his death not be in vain,” the priest added, telling the young people who thronged St Mary’s church that Mr Dolan’s wish for them would be that this not happen again.

Mourners heard how Mr Dolan had left for Mullingar “with a song in his heart” . He had given his parents the thumbs up when they asked him how the exams had gone and he was looking forward to meeting up with old school friends in Mullingar.

The congregation included former president Mary McAleese and her husband Senator Martin McAleese, local TD Frank Feighan, president of NUI Galway Dr James Browne, former senior diplomat Dermot Gallagher and his wife Maeve, and local Senators Michael Comiskey and John Kelly.

They were told of Mr Dolan’s ready smile, independent spirit and the enthusiasm with which he embraced everything from his academic endeavours to playing with his beloved Shannon Gaels. His father Joe ruefully noted that despite what people might now claim about his prowess on the field, the family knew Andrew would never be an All-Star.

Mr Dolan’s tribute to his son, read on his behalf by Mr Dolan’s aunt Heather Laird, recounted how in their anguish they were delighted that three other families were celebrating thanks to Andrew’s insistence on carrying a donor card.