Mags Gargan
The parish priest of the family who died when their car slipped off Buncrana pier said it was the “biggest tragedy” he has had to deal with in 43 years as a priest and the community has been numbed by shock.
Sean McGrotty (46), his sons Mark (12) and Evan (8), his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels (57) and her 15-year-old daughter Jodie Lee, all died after their car slid off the Co. Donegal pier. Mr McGrotty’s partner and the dead boys’ mother, Louise, was not in the car and her four-month-old daughter Rioghnach survived after she was rescued from the water by a man who jumped in.
Fr Patrick O’Kane, PP of the family’s home parish in the Ballymagroarty area of Derry, said they were “a popular family and wonderful parents to their children” and the community “is numb with shock”.
“I am 43 years a priest and this is the biggest tragedy I have ever had to deal with, it’s the biggest tragedy most priests would have to deal with, five people at one time.”
Bishop Donal McKeown visited the grieving mother on Monday and asked the people of the diocese “to keep this family in your thoughts and prayers over the coming days and weeks”.