PacemakerA 30-year-old man is still being held on suspicion of murder after a man’s death in Downpatrick, that police said might be linked to a “brutal” attack on a priest in a church in the town.
Officers went to a house in Marian Park at about 12:00 BST on Sunday after a report that a body had been found.
Police suspect the case might be connected to an attack on a priest, Fr John Murray, in St Patrick’s Church in the County Down town.
He was hit on the head with a bottle while preparing to celebrate his last Mass before his retirement.
Fr Murray was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for treatment to his injuries.
The Downpatrick Family of Parishes said on Monday that Fr Murray “continues to receive exceptional care” and he is “stable and comfortable”.
It added that St Patrick’s Church and its grounds remain closed.
Police said a man walked into the church on St Patrick’s Avenue at 10:10 BST on Sunday and hit the priest before leaving.
Det Ch Insp McBurney said it “was a completely shocking and brutal attack and has left the priest with a serious head injury”.
Fr Eddie McGee is a priest from the Diocese of Down and Connor and knows Fr Murray well.
He told BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster (GMU) programme that the man asked Fr Murray if he would hear his confession just before the morning service was due to start and “it was at that stage that he was attacked”.
He said the parishioners who witnessed the attack then called the emergency services, describing it as an “absolute shock” for those who saw the “terrible event”.
‘Difficult to comprehend’
Fr McGee said Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian, went to the hospital on Sunday night to meet with the family of Fr Murray and some of the clergy went to see the family of the man who has been killed.
He also sent his thoughts and prayers to the man who was killed and said that a “loss of life in such brutal circumstances is just very difficult to comprehend”.
Fr McGee described Fr Murray as “very well known” and “very well respected priest” of the diocese who had been appointed a canon by the bishop in recognition for his work as a senior adviser.
He said a sign of his “commitment and dedication” to the community is that even in his retirement he planned to assist the local area.
Parishioner Raymond Rooney was in the church when the incident occurred.
He said he heard women saying Fr Murray was injured.
“Then the police arrived – there was commotion, everyone was talking. And then I heard the ambulance arrive,” he said.
“It was mayhem in the church. People were aghast at what had happened. Totally shocked. People can’t take it in.”
Mr Rooney described Fr Murray as a “really brilliant man”.
Hundreds of people attended a vigil in Downpatrick’s St Brigid’s Church on Sunday evening.
Fr Martin Graham, who took the service, said it was about being with the parishioners and praying with them, for Fr Murray and also “for the other poor man who lost his life”.
He said Fr Murray had given the last 11 years of life to the parish and was due to retire on Thursday.
“He is so well thought of by the people here,” he said. “It is just heartbreaking for them in what was supposed to be a poignant farewell this morning that it turned into something which was just grotesque.”
Sinn Fein councillor Oonagh Hanlon, who attended the vigil, described it as a “very sombre and very respectful” event which also remembered the man who was killed.
She said it is a “close-knit community” and there is “deep shock” that this has happened.
She added that the vigil was a “testament to the resilience of our community” and said it would “rally around the families affected”.
Family ‘in mourning’
Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Colin McGrath described it as a “shocking” and “graphic” attack on Fr Murray and that it was carried out in a “public manner and in daylight exposed an awful lot of vulnerabilities of clergy”.
“We must put this in the wider context that this is a very rare event, and that people hopefully will take comfort in the fact that this doesn’t happen on a regular basis but it does show that when it does happen that those vulnerabilities are there,” he added.
McGrath said Marian Park is a “very settled community” and that the people of Downpatrick always had a “positive word” to say about Fr Murray.
Supt Norman Haslett said enquiries were at an early stage and at this time, they suspect the Marian Park incident “may be connected to a serious assault in the St Patrick’s Avenue area of Downpatrick on Sunday”.
Speaking about the death in Marian Park, SDLP councillor Conor Galbraith said a family were now in mourning.
“It is really sad that this has resulted in two daughters left behind, grandchildren left behind,” he added.
“And for what, we just don’t know why.”
