Relatives of murder victims carried candles and photographs of their loved ones to the altar during a moving remembrance service at the Honan Chapel in University College Cork on Saturday.
The names of 257 people who died violently in Ireland over the last few decades were read out during the ecumenical service, which was jointly organised by two new charities - Advocates for the Victims of Homicide (AdVic) and Families of Murder Victims (FMV). At the service relatives of the dead recited specially composed poems dedicated to a murdered son, daughter, brother, sister, or parent.
Families also released over 200 purple balloons following the hour-long service, which was attended by dozens of families of murder victims from around the country. Attendees included Pat Dillon of Glounthane, Co Cork, whose daughter, Gráinne, was murdered on January 5th, 2002, by a fellow worker.
Gráinne Dillon (24) was working as a trainee night manager at Jurys Inn in Limerick when she was shot dead by a Portuguese night porter. Paulo Nascimento (27) was sentenced to life for what the trial judge described as the most vicious and callous crime he had ever encountered.
Nascimento, who had worked as a night porter in Jurys for just six days before the killing, shot Ms Dillon three times during a bungled robbery.
Mrs Dillon said families of murder victims often feel cheated by a judicial process which she claimed favoured the perpetrator rather than families of victims. In her own case because of Nascimento's guilty plea she never found out the true details of her daughter's final hours.
"There is no involvement for the family. You are sitting there and it is the State talking. They become the voice for the victim. To us we are the voice of the victim but we were not involved at all.
"The perpetrator gets away way too easily by pleading guilty. They should be made to stand up and go through the scene and to talk about whether it was premeditated or not. Nothing came out about Gráinne. The perpetrator just has to say 'guilty' and that is the end of the story. There is a total feeling of coming out of court and thinking 'Is that all Gráinne is worth?'"
Mrs Dillon said the devastation of losing a loved one had been compounded by a legal system in which families of murder victims have no status.
She said the trauma is often exacerbated because families do not know their rights, or understand the legal system in which they find themselves.
Mrs Dillon added that families bereaved through murder often feel alone and unsure of what is going to happen. Groups such as AdVic and FMR hope to end their feelings of isolation by offering support and helping families to access relevant information about the courts process.
AdVic was launched on April 23rd in Dublin to redress what they claim is the imbalance within the criminal justice system and to provide support for families who find themselves bereaved due to violent death.
AdVic can be contacted on 086 1272156 or via e-mail at info@advic.ie. Alternatively, write to PO Box 10106, Swords, Co Dublin.