Tragedy of man’s death leads to lasting bonds across boundaries

Shortly after 5am on the penultimate Thursday before Christmas, about 150 people gathered for a prayer service on the banks of the river Erne in Enniskillen. They held a short candlelit vigil and placed a wreath on a bridge to remember Kieran McAree (23), from Emyvale, Co Monaghan, who died on December 17th 2014 after jumping into the waters.

“On a cold, dark, windy morning, at quarter past five on the dot a year ago, exactly to this day, we all crumbled with absolute shock,” said Áine Boyle, reading the words she had written in memory of her cousin. “The phone calls to each and every house; triggered tears to pour down our face; but into action the search began in full swing; as the PSNI handled it with absolute grace.”

McAree’s disappearance led to a 64-day search carried out by hundreds of volunteers, both from the young man’s home town and from across the Border in Co Fermanagh.

“Faith, geography and politics were things that had no meaning throughout the search,” explains Peadar McMahon, who helped co-ordinate the operation every day between December and February.

“We were human beings working to the same end – to find the body to help ease the family’s distress. That was the aim and that was all that was important.”

McMahon, a close family friend in Emyvale, says no one was sure what do to in the early days.

“I went down just as a neighbour to help in the beginning. Then we started to go out in boats and organise our own searches. Kieran’s uncle, Séan, was co-ordinating and was overwhelmed with what he was being asked to do. Because I was a family friend he asked me to stay,” McMahon says.

Investigation

Supt

Derek Scott

and his colleagues from the

Police Service of Northern Ireland

worked in tandem with the family, friends and local search teams. “We investigated all types of possibilities. We had found the car and we knew his stated intention. From an early stage our professional assessment was that we couldn’t put a time on when the body would resurface, ” he says.

By the end of the first week people from Enniskillen had joined the search, bringing food, drinks and supplies. The PSNI also went “beyond what was asked of them”, says McMahon remembers the police officers’ wives turning up with tea and scones at the end of a long day searching the river.

“The police themselves, we wouldn’t have known any of them but very soon we were on first name terms,” says McMahon. “They joined us in the cafe and ate and drank with us. We are from a Border area, the southern part of that Border. Our notion of the PSNI was that they didn’t like us and they gave us a hard time when we were travelling over the Border.

“We were totally new to Lough Erne and we had never been involved in a search and rescue operation like this before. It was their friendship and their respect for us and for the family – they put everything at our disposal.”

Seán Treanor, who led the search for his missing nephew, also remembers the generosity of the PSNI and the local community.

“They gave us their home numbers, came down with scones, even religious leaders from the local Church of Ireland and Catholic church would come to help,” says Treanor.

“There were days when you would get downbeat. It snowed and it rained, the weather was terrible. If it hadn’t been for the good of the people we would have never got through it.”

Treanor took leave from his furniture business for the duration of the search, rising at 5.45am every morning to gather his gear and make the hour-long journey in the dark to Enniskillen. Meanwhile, McMahon would write a blog post each night to keep friends and family up-to-date with the search efforts.

As the weeks passed, growing numbers of people from across the Border joined the Monaghan group searching the water and banks of the Erne. Many offered the use of their boats, including Bob Lyons, a videographer from Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone. "The minute I shook hands with Seán I knew I had to help. Our boat was big so we could take other people with us. The scale of this search was unbelievable. We weren't sure where the body was and Lough Erne is a vast expanse of water."

Funeral

On Wednesday, February 18th 2015, after two months of daily searches along the river, Kieran McAree’s body was found floating 100m from where he had jumped into the water. The funeral, which was held a few days later in Corracrin, Co Monaghan, was attended by hundreds of search volunteers including members of the PSNI.

Towards the end of the Mass, Father Hubert Martin gave a special thanks to the members of the force.

The congregation spontaneously burst into a round of applause and the congregation rose to its feet to acclaim the PSNI officers.

“The spontaneous standing ovation was one of those rare occasions when you get goosebumps and hair standing on the back of your neck,” says Supt Scott. “We can try all sorts of community relation strategies, and a lot of those over the years have been really successful, but we saw it happen so naturally, a really organic thing. We saw these people realising that there is very little actually separating us, whether it’s religion or the Border.”

It was the first time McMahon had ever seen a standing ovation in a Catholic church. “When you consider what it was for – a group of PSNI officers in a Catholic church in the south of Ireland being applauded by staunch republicans; they were stunned to receive such a reception.”

Bond of friendship

Lyons, who also attended the funeral, says the weeks of searching had created a strong bond of friendship between people who under normal circumstances would never have spoken to one another.

“Kieran didn’t die for no reason,” he said. “We mixed with people even though we knew they were Roman Catholic, some from very republican areas. The understanding we now have of their lives, and the understanding they have of our lives – we’re all in this world for the same thing. I would class them as my best friends now.”

On the morning of December 17th, 2015, the new friends joined the McAree family once again on the banks of the river.

“We talked about the humanity that was shown in Enniskillen compared with the evil there is in our world,” says McMahon. “There’s so much evil and yet there can be so much love. Witnessing the goodness of people gave us a bit of confidence that something can be done to restore humanity.”