Editorial: Community support in face of week of tragedy and grotesque vandalism
The funeral of Avu Idris led by a guard of honour of Villa FC and De La Salle College students making its way to Kilbarry Cemetery. Photo: Joe Evans
The power of community was clearly visible across Waterford this week, as a huge show of solidarity and support was expressed for the families of teenagers Gilbert Collins, age 15, and Avu Idris, age 17.
Hundreds of people turned out for the funerals of both boys, as they were taken on their final, heartbreaking journeys to be laid to rest in Kilbarry Cemetery, Gilbert on Tuesday and Avu on Thursday.
A short distance from where they grew up at Ardmore Park and Crystal Mews, Waterford people - neighbours and friends - came out to help these families shoulder this terrible, devastating grief.
Meanwhile, community has also stood strongly behind the devastated family of the late Michael Grant, who died tragically while on holiday on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
Michael was well-known and highly respected as a brilliant and devoted children's coach in Waterford city, as well as being the former physiotherapist for the Senior Hurling Team under Derek McGrath back in 2017.
A member of St. Joseph’s Football Club and Mount Sion GAA Club, Michael was described as being "selfless", giving of himself "without condition" and always "omnipresent in his beloved St Joseph’s AFC and Mount Sion".
Such awful tragedy is hard to come to terms with in a community.
At the funerals of Gilbert and Avu, family and friends, school students and club teammates walked side by side, scaffolding the young men and their loved ones as best they could. In words and song, they paid tribute to these brilliant, young lives, taken so abruptly on the cusp of adulthood.
Waterford might be a city in populace, but when it comes to taking care of and comforting our own, we are a close-knit, village community.
Across the city, when vandals wreaked havoc in two serious acts of destruction at the Waterford Vikings' cricket pitch in Gracedieu, the community answered by digging ever deeper. To date, a GoFundMe campaign has raised €3,540 for this wonderful facility, with the funds raised growing by the hour.
Fianna Fáil Councillor Eamon Quinlan spoke for all of us when he said, in relation to the attacks: "We have to beat these vandals whether they are motivated by senseless destruction or on a more sinister level, targeting the club on blatantly racist grounds...
"To see this community raise serious sums of money privately and invest in a game that has tremendous history in Waterford is wonderful, to put in place sports facilities and allow children and adults of all backgrounds in Waterford to play is a serious success story."
Sport, in all its wonderful and varied glory, is a fantastic positive in Waterford - providing immense joy and pathways to beneficial, extra-curricular achievement for countless Waterford young people.
Our communities remain steadfast in their commitment to ensuring and protecting all our sports clubs and organisations, for the betterment of everyone.
