THE Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, made his second impasssioned plea this year to the city's criminal gangs to end their "evil feud".Bishop Murray said people could honour Shane's memory by reporting any relevant information on his murder to the gardai and appealed to violent gangs to "come to their senses".
In one of the biggest funerals ever seen in Limerick, more than 1,000 mourners packed St Joesph's Church while another 1,000 listened quietly outside and hundreds more lined the three-mile route to Shane's final resting place where even more waited patiently.
In a letter to the congregation, Bishop Murray said "all human life is precious and murder is never acceptable".
"The death of Shane has shocked all of Limerick and beyond. This senseless killing of an innocent man with his whole life before him is further evidence of the futility of this evil feud, and the callous inhumanity with which it is pursued," Bishop Murray wrote.
"I ask everyone to pray intensely to God that all who have suffered so much may be comforted and that those who engage in this violence may come to their senses," he added.
St Joseph's Church was packed almost an hour before the service was due to begin, with all walks of life from Limerick represented.
The silent congregation heard of a message of support from President Mary McAleese in one of Limerick's darkest weeks.
Fr Tom Maher who taught Shane in the senior cycle of Crescent College Comprehensive said: "It is sad to say that our safety from violent crime is not even guaranteed in the vicinity of our own homes."
Fr Maher said the brutal murder "raises many questions about the direction that our city and country are going in".
"To think that he was returning home, minding his own business. . . and then so brutally shot down a short distance from our home adds to our sense of outrage and anger," Fr Maher commented.
Hope
On a day that will forever be remembered in Limerick, Fr Maher said there was hope that some good would come from this tragedy, "that this kind of shocking violence which has frequently marred the good name of our city will become a thing of the past".
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Sotto Voce
(Source: II)