Roses for Rosemary
Paddy Kelly reads extracts from a speech from Nelson Mandela at the Mass for Rosemary Nelson in Clonard
Last Thursday 15 March, the second anniversary of her death, Rosemary Nelson was remembered in a moving yet sometimes defiant ceremony in Clonard Monastery in Belfast.
In her hometown of Lurgan, some 25 miles away, led by husband Paul and their three children, Rosemary's family - her father, mother, brothers and sisters, remembered her in a private service.
In Clonard, Fr Gerry Reynolds led a congregation of a couple of hundred in a tribute that was both religious and humane at the same time. In his opening remarks, Robbie McVeigh of the Rosemary Nelson Campaign praised Rosemary's qualities as a human being and recalled her commitment to justice, human rights and the human dignity of the individual. It was that commitment to justice and to the human dignity of her clients that led to Rosemary being assassinated by those same pro-British forces that have acted in the interest in the British state in Ireland.
Among the readings and readers were Sheila Livingstone, a Methodist, who read from Martin Luther King's Strength to Love, while Paddy Kelly of the Campaign recited extracts from Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech as the first president of a democratic South Africa.
However, it was the Procession of Roses for Rosemary that was the most moving part of the ceremony. From throughout the world organisations and individuals sent bouquets to show their support for an independent, international judicial inquiry into all the circumstances surrounding her killing. Up to 60 children presented roses at the altar, representing the cases, causes and issues that Rosemary worked for.
Eibhlín Corbett carried a bouquet from the Brehon Law Society on behalf of the Finucane family. They called for a full independent inquiry into Pat Finucane's killing.
There were flowers from the families of others killed by state forces and their loyalist allies. Some of the bouquets came from as far away as California.
In the congregation were Richard Harvey, a barrister representing some of the Bloody Sunday families, Sinn Féin Assembly member Dara O'Hagan, who was a close friend of Rosemary's, as well as representatives of the Lower Ormeau, Springfield Road and Bellaghy residents groups.
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