“I’m here to remember my dad,” Marie Kelly said, through tears, as she clutched a framed picture of her late father outside the Garden of Remembrance yesterday afternoon.
About 200 people attended the north Dublin ceremony to honour the more than 6,600 lives lost to Covid-19 in Ireland during the pandemic.
The National Day of Remembrance and Reflection was attended by Leo Varadkar, the tanaiste, Alison Gilliland, the mayor of Dublin, and a number of government ministers.
Kelly’s father, Patrick Dully, died from Covid-19 on December 7, 2020, a week after contracting the virus in hospital. “He was an amazing dad,” Kelly told The Times.
“I’m here representing my family as they all live in the midlands. They’re all watching this at home on television. I was going to watch it on television, I have it recorded, but it’s nice to be here. It’s a beautiful day and we have to remember them all.”
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Mark Jones, a care worker, attended the ceremony in honour of his colleagues, and his uncle who died from the virus in April 2020. “I came here today to remember all those who died during the height of the pandemic and to give thanks to all the frontline workers who supported our country,” he said.
“As a care worker myself, I’d like to give thanks to my colleagues who passed away and everyone who passed away during the pandemic. It’s nice to be here in solidarity with everyone. I hope this isn’t just a one time thing and that it becomes an annual event to remember all the people the country has lost.”
Mary Harrington was in attendance yesterday in honour of her late husband, Bill Harrington, who died from Covid-19 in October 2020. “It feels very sad [being here],” she said. “I think it’s wonderful to be able to mark it [the day of remembrance]. It would be nice for this to be an annual event, especially with Covid.”
The ceremony featured a specially commissioned poem and reflections by a hospital chaplain, while representatives laid wreaths in the cruciform pool.
Music was performed by the National Ambulance Service, the Army No 1 Band, Claudia Boyle, violinist Lynda O’Connor and cellist Gerald Peregrine, creator of Covid Care Concerts.
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Micheál Martin, the taoiseach, who is isolating in Washington DC after testing positive for Covid-19, said the country’s frontline workers put themselves “in harm’s way” to protect others.
“In every section of our society, people dug more deeply and showed more resilience than they knew was possible. Countless acts of personal courage and quiet sacrifice saw our country through an unprecedented crisis, and helped save many thousands of vulnerable lives,” he said in a statement.
“Without hesitation and before we even understood the true nature or scale of the threat, they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the rest of us. Without complaint, they cared for our sickest and brought dignity and compassion to the most fraught and difficult situations.”
Michael D Higgins, the president, and his wife Sabina, also hosted a special event at Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday morning as part of the day of remembrance.
During the ceremony, the president and Sabina planted an oak tree in the Commemorative Garden at Áras an Uachtaráin as a lasting memorial to the victims of the pandemic.
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In a speech, the president said: “Today we have to the forefront of our minds the more than half a million people in this country who lost loved ones during the pandemic, and all those, too, living abroad who have endured painful separation from loved ones at home in Ireland at times of great distress and grief.”
Similar events were held across the country yesterday and the national flag was at half-mast on all state buildings.
