Mourne Abbey ‘won’t be found wanting’ – parish priest
The Parish Priest of Mourne Abbey has said the community is rallying round the grieving family of Karen Buckley, during the painful wait for the return of her body from Scotland.
Fr Joe O’Keeffe said the north Cork parish will “not be found wanting” in offering their support for the slain nursing student’s parents and brothers.
“We will now do everything we can to support the family and help them through this ordeal,” he said.
Karen’s burial is expected to be one of the biggest funerals ever seen in Cork, but Fr O’Keefe said “there are no plans or funeral arrangements yet” after John and Marian Buckley returned from Edinburgh on Saturday evening after being informed by Scottish authorities that their daughter’s body would not be released before today (Thursday) at the earliest.
“Uppermost in the minds of her family and the parish community is to get Karen back home,” Fr O’Keeffe said.
The parish congregation signed a book of condolence for the family at 10am Mass on Sunday and Cork County Council has opened a book of condolence in Cork County Hall and Cork County Council offices in Mallow.
Hundreds of people also attended memorial events held in Glasgow in a park off Hill Street where Karen was living and in the city’s George Square.
Karen’s former classmates at the University of Limerick have raised €50,000, more than 10 times the original target, in an online drive to cover the family’s travel and accommodation expenses.
Karen vanished from a Glasgow nightclub in the early hours of April 12.
Her body was found on the isolated High Craigton Farm on the northwestern outskirts of the city three days later. Last Friday Alexander Pacteau (21) from Glasgow was charged with her murder and with attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
He is due to appear again in court on Friday.