Air disaster victims
remembered

By Dick Grogan

The Rosslare lifeboat St Brendan escorts the naval vessel LE Ciara on the journey to a point off Tuskar Rock for a wreath-laying ceremony

"I will never forget you, my people," sang the children of Kilrane National School, and two lifeboats sailed line abreast with the LE Ciara into the heat haze on the horizon to lay a white wreath on the sun-dappled waters near Tuskar Rock.

Local people joined relatives and friends of the victims in a moving commemoration at Rosslare Port yesterday of the 61 passengers and crew lost in the Aer Lingus Viscount disaster of 30 years ago.

It was marked by a solemn ecumenical service, and by an impassioned appeal by Junior Minister and local TD, Mr Hugh Byrne, for a new inquiry into the circumstances of the crash.

Mr Byrne raised a series of questions about the incident and the subsequent salvage operation and investigation, and he hinted strongly at the possibility of a cover-up, saying: "Many people know the answers to some of those questions; some people know the answers to all of those questions.

"I am asking that the silence be broken. If there is nothing to hide, then let the investigation be reopened."

Repeating his conviction that the truth was being withheld, he added: "I say to those people: loyalty is laudable, but it is morally incumbent on you at this stage to tell what you know."

Afterwards, Mr Byrne, who is Minister of State for the Marine and Natural Resources, said he had repeatedly pressed for a fresh inquiry, but had been told that this would be considered if new evidence was forthcoming.

The core of yesterday's ceremony, however, was a dignified remembrance of those who died on Flight 712, bound from Cork to Heathrow. The electronic notice boards in the Rosslare Port terminal flashed a common message:

"In remembrance, `St Phelim' EIAOM, 24 March 1968".

Relatives brought wreaths, with cards bearing simple messages of love and sorrow - "We all still miss you", "To a loving husband/father: Never forgotten", and "God rest ye in peace".

Ms Carol O'Brien, of Rosslare Harbour Development Board, said that the lives of those old enough to remember the event personally had been indelibly touched by the disaster - none more so than the relatives and friends of the deceased.

Father Diarmuid Desmond PP told the gathering of almost 200 people: "Today they are alive in our hearts and minds." Prayers and readings from the Gospels were delivered by other local priests, and by Mr Cecil Dyer on behalf of the Church of Ireland congregation.

Mr Padraig Kenny, whose wife, Hilda, lost her sister, Ann Kelly, aged 19 - one of the two air hostesses on the flight - read part of a meditation on death from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran ". . .for life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one."

Local musician Brendan Wickham played uileann pipes and tin whistle, and Irish Ferries employee, Mr Brian Murphy, sang Abide with Me.

Mr Byrne unveiled a marble plaque which will eventually be placed permanently at the village green in Rosslare.

He spoke of the questions and suspicions that had been raised over the years, but never answered - the reports of British missile tests in the area at the time, the allegations that salvage vessels were initially sent to the wrong location and that they were later told to dump pieces of wreckage taken on board.

Mr Brendan Howlin TD, deputy leader of the Labour Party, echoed Mr Byrne's call for a new inquiry and spoke of the added trauma caused because only 14 bodies had been recovered.

Aer Lingus was represented by Mr Dan Loughrey, head of corporate affairs, and Mr Tom Croke, air safety officer. The manager of Rosslare Port, Mr Walter Morrissey, and the harbourmaster, Captain Aidan Jameson, were also present, along with Lieut Declan Fleming, captain of the LE Ciara, and his crew.

All present had signed a Book of Remembrance, which will be presented to relatives at a special commemoration Mass in Cork next Saturday.