The death of five-year-old Ryan O'Keeffe Hayes in a suspected arson attack in Cork has been described as 'an outrage against life and goodness'.
Fr Tom Walsh told his grieving family that someone acting as an angel of death brought death and destruction to them on that most sacred day of the year (Easter Sunday).
Fr Walsh added that the torn image of pain can be seen in Ryan’s parents' faces.
Fr Walsh was speaking during the boy’s funeral service at the North Cathedral in Cork city this morning.
His teacher, Nikki Egan, told his grieving parents, Paddy and Josephine, and his younger brother Patrick and baby sister Rebecca, that Ryan had a special ability to brighten up her day with his bright eyes, long eyelashes and never-ending hugs.
Simple but poignant reminders of his short life were brought to the altar; these included his school bag, his Nintendo DS and a Ben Ten Easter Egg he was to get last Sunday.
Family members carried his white coffin from the church to a waiting hearse and, with a garda escort, he was brought to St Michael's Cemetery in Blackrock where he was laid to rest.
The mourners also included his grandparents Joe and Helena Senior, who, along with four others, escaped uninjured from the blaze at the house on Nutley Avenue in Mahon.
His 25-year-old aunt Helena also died in the fire and she is to be buried alongside him at St Michael's Cemetery tomorrow.
