{"id":349622,"date":"2025-08-16T17:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T17:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/349622\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T17:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T17:01:10","slug":"disease-of-unease-and-anxiety-paralysing-northern-ireland-priest-says-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/349622\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Disease of unease and anxiety\u2019 paralysing Northern Ireland, priest says \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man found who was killed in Co Down<\/a> last weekend has been remembered at his funeral as a \u201ckind and thoughtful\u201d person who helped others.<\/p>\n

The body of Stephen Brannigan (56) was found in a house in Marian Park, Downpatrick last Sunday afternoon shortly after Fr John Murray was attacked at the town\u2019s St Patrick\u2019s Church.<\/p>\n

A man appeared in court earlier this week charged with the murder of Mr Brannigan<\/a> and attempted murder of Fr Murray.<\/p>\n

Mr Brannigan\u2019s funeral Mass took place on Saturday at St Brigid\u2019s Church, Downpatrick.<\/p>\n

The service was attended by his family members, neighbours, public representatives and emergency service workers.<\/p>\n

In a homily, Fr Timothy Bartlett said the community had been left \u201cnumb, dazed and brokenhearted\u201d following the events of last weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast Sunday, as news of the tragic events of Stephen\u2019s murder, and Fr John\u2019s attempted murder, began to break, what a very different, what a shocking and very brutal world confronted us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Fr Bartlett said Mr Brannigan lived a life marked by a \u201cremarkable kindness\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Mass heard one of his hobbies was flying planes online \u201coften into the early hours of the morning\u201d and that he was being buried in the kit of his \u201cbeloved Liverpool Football Club\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if there is a kit clash in heaven today, Stephen will be unmistakable as a definite Liverpool FC man. I am sure he would be very pleased about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Mr Brannigan would \u201cbe the first to admit\u201d he was not a \u201cperfect human being\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, he added that \u201cthe more recent years of his life were marked by a remarkable kindness, a gentle neighbourliness and a deep love for those who were close to him\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Stephen literally went around this historic town of Downpatrick doing good, often quietly, with no fuss and no expectation of return. Stephen loved and Stephen was loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr Bartlett said Mr Brannigan and his late wife Dorenda\u2019s greatest joy in life were their daughters Ciara and Gemma, and through them their \u201cbeloved grandchildren\u201d Sophie, Lily, Conor, Clodagh, Holly and Ruairi.<\/p>\n

He read out tributes from Mr Brannigan\u2019s grandchildren, who remembered him as \u201cthe best grandad\u201d who \u201cspoiled\u201d them and also made a great shepherd\u2019s pie.<\/p>\n

The priest called on those gathered to remember the words of Liverpool\u2019s anthem, You\u2019ll Never Walk Alone, adding: \u201cAs we say our earthly farewell, we say to you Stephen, \u2018walk on\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

In relation to Fr Murray, Fr Bartlett said the hearts of the community were broken that \u201csuch a gentle and prayerful man should have been subjected\u201d to a serious assault. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs you continue to recover in hospital, we send you our love, our thoughts and our prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr Bartlett also criticised a \u201cdisease of unease and anxiety that is paralysing\u201d society in Northern Ireland, adding that services that previously provided a culture of safety and respect are \u201cunder-resourced and broke\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I the only who feels that there is growing culture of aggression and violence creeping like a cancer through the bones of our families, our towns and our society, in which nothing and no one is sacred any more?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cAm I the only one who yearns for a little more gentleness, a little more civility, a little more courtesy, a little more neighbourliness and community, and a little more compassion and care?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr Bartlett said it was time to ask hard questions about how to address violence in society, suggesting a civic forum envisaged under the Belfast Agreement should be convened.<\/p>\n

Hugh Malone (30), of no fixed address but from the Belfast area, appeared via video-link at Newtownards Magistrates\u2019 Court on Wednesday charged with the murder of Mr Brannigan and the attempted murder of Fr Murray. \u2013 PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man found who was killed in Co Down last weekend has been remembered at his funeral as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[12452,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-349622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-down","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115039520935504441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}