The mother of the three-year-old boy who was killed in a lift shaft in Galway last week was too distraught to attend his funeral.
Omolara Alibi grieved privately with her three daughters yesterday as the body of her son, Solomon, was taken from the mortuary at Galway University Hospital to the New Cemetery in Bohermore.
“She cannot be present. It is too much for her to bear,” Ms Alibi’s solicitor, Gerard O’Donnell, said.
The boy's father, Ade Soremekun, travelled to Galway from Dublin after being informed of the tragedy and attended the prayer service at the hospital.
Solomon died from crush injuries after falling into the lift shaft at the Hynes Building office complex in Galway city centre on Monday afternoon. Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority are investigating the tragedy.
The family had only arrived in Galway in late December and Ms Alibi and her family were completing paperwork in the Social Welfare Local Office on the first floor of the building when the incident happened.
At noon yesterday, members of the Nigerian community gathered with Solomon's father at the hospital mortuary to say a final farewell. Among the attendance were the Consular Minister of the Embassy of Nigeria, Umar A Abba, Mayor of Galway, Cllr Padraic Conneely, Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and former Fianna Fáil minister Frank Fahey.
Pastor Larry Ovie of the Faith Christian Fellowship told the mourners that memories of Solomon and his charming life would not die. He asked the congregation to pray for his parents and Solomon's sisters, princess, Esther and Zion "because that is all we can do".
Teachers from St Finian’s Pre-School in Lucan, which Solomon had attended before moving to Galway, presented a framed photograph of Solomon to his father at the mortuary.
At the New Cemetery in Bohermore mourners carried candles as they followed the hearse. “Solomon was the light of her life and that is why we carry the lighted candles,” Pastor Ovie said.
The mourners sang the gospel children’s song ‘This Little Light of Mine’ as they accompanied the remains to the graveside.