Funeral held for murder victim Stephen Brannigan

A priest at the funeral of Stephen Brannigan, who was found murdered in a house in County Down, has condemned the “culture of aggression and violence” he said is “creeping like a cancer” through society.

The 56-year-old was found dead in a house in Marian Park in Downpatrick on Sunday 10 August.

The funeral service took place in St Brigid’s Church in the town.

A 30-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Mr Brannigan, and attempted murder of a priest.

The priest, Fr John Murray, is in hospital after being attacked while preparing to celebrate his last Mass before retirement at St Patrick’s Church in Downpatrick.

Hugh Malone, from Belfast but with no fixed abode, appeared before Newtownards Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Delivering the homily at Saturday’s funeral, Fr Timothy Bartlett said that “the peace of an ordinary summer Sunday morning” had been “cruelly shattered by acts of vicious and senseless violence”.

“Totally unprovoked, this violence was directed against two people who had simply reached out to help someone they believed to be in distress,” he told the congregation.

Fr Bartlett said Mr Brannigan liked “to reach out to others, to drop in to a neighbour’s house and make them a cup of tea, or paint their house for nothing, or look after the grave of a neighbour’s loved one, as he did his late wife Dorenda’s almost every day”.

“This was so much a part of the kind, thoughtful person Stephen Brannigan was,” he added.

Addressing the events of last weekend, the priest questioned whether things that once “made communities strong” are now disappearing.

“Am I the only who feels that there is growing culture of aggression and violence creeping like a cancer through the bones of our families, our towns and our society, in which nothing and no-one is sacred any more?

“Am I the only one who yearns for a little more gentleness, a little more civility, a little more courtesy, a little more neighbourliness and community, and a little more compassion and care?”

In a statement on Monday, the family of Mr Brannigan said he was known among his neighbours and friends as someone who was always willing to help out and “ready to do whatever needed to be done for the good of others”.

The day before he died, he was tending to friends’ graves while visiting the grave of his late wife, Dorenda, “as he did, almost every day”.

Mr Brannigan is remembered as a “dearly beloved” husband, a “much loved” father of two daughters and a “loving grandfather” of six in his death notice.

The family also thanked “those who have surrounded us with such love and care”.