Everyone loved Niall. The best thing I can do is insert what I read out about him at his funeral. He died of cancer aged 49.

Rest in Peace Niall.

Niall

I was 9 when Niall was born and I remember him as a smiling happy baby. I can picture my other brothers crying, and although he obviously did cry, I can only see Niall as happy. He was easy going and relaxed, and never lost these qualities all through his life.
As he grew up, he seemed to survive on golden syrup sandwiches, but had great physical stamina. He loved football, and one of his tricks was jumping from the second storey of the flats where we lived, to the grass below. He was always a dare-devil.

As well as being physically tough, he was also clever. He didn’t work too hard at the London Oratory, where he went to school, but he could beat our brother Kevin, six years older than him at chess, while keeping one eye on the telly. This wasn’t just occasionally. It was again and again.

Our brother Don, two years younger than him, remembers they used to fight like Kilkenny cats as children. At our twice yearly family reunions more recently the two of them would have animated discussions on driving, politics, anything. You name it, they argued about it.

He was a good-looking guy, and I remember when he was a teenager he and a friend were walking along Carnaby Street, when some girls mistook him for George Harrison, the Beatle. Always ready for a laugh he ran away as if he WAS George Harrison.

He met Sue his wife, at the wedding of a mutual friend. Sue was first aware of a deafening laugh, and when she saw where the laugh was coming from, she was struck by his cheeky good looks.
Romance blossomed, they got married, and in 1972 Rachel was born.

A husband and father at only 19 years of age, Niall took his responsibilities seriously and although in and out of a few jobs to begin with, he realised that the way forward was to gain some qualifications. He studied at night school and gained various certificates and diplomas in foundation teacher training, quality assurance and statistical techniques. In 1989 he obtained a 1st class honours degree in Maths,and was very proud to have been given the John Divers Award for Kingston University Student of the Year.

As he gained more qualifications he was able to command more responsible jobs, and his final position was as Head of the Statistical Analysis Branch in Customs and Excise. I know he took this work very seriously. He enjoyed the travelling it involved, and was proud to be working in a good team. He was very pleased that during his last illness, Sandra would come in to discuss work with him.


When Sue and Niall split up a few years ago he was devastated. I think this must have been the lowest ebb of his life as his family was so important to him. He always hoped that one day they would get back together again.

However, nothing would keep Niall down for long. He moved to Southend, and here he experienced a kind of mini resurrection. He found lodgings, got a job in Customs and Excise, and bought a house. He must have been very lonely at first. He used to go to Wine Bars and the Comedy Club in the evenings, just to pass the time away. At each place he went to, he would talk to other people, and gradually built up a huge network of friends, linking together all these people. Niall was always a great bridge builder.

I believe he was still very attractive to women, not because he looked like one of the Beatles, as happened when he was young, but because he was himself. When in hospital last month, the other men in the ward counted 30 female visitors in two days. Of course he had many male visitors too. He had a great knack for making friends.

Barbara was a very special friend of Niall’s and I believe she can tell much more about the great parties they used to attend until very recently when the cancer returned. I have seen many of the photographs, and would love to hear more! Barbara also visited Niall every day during his last six weeks in hospital, and was a vital link with the family, as we all lived so far away. I know she made Niall’s last few weeks much more bearable.

The legacy Niall has left us all is his daughter Rachel. He was so proud of her, and rightly so as she is a caring, loving, responsible and independent young woman, bringing up her daughter beautifully.


When Niall thought he might die two years ago when he first got cancer, he wrote her a letter, only to be opened if he died. On opening this letter last week, Rachel found Niall had written that the three most important things in his life were
1) marrying Sue
2) having Rachel
3) his grand daugher Keiya.


I haven’t come here to canonise Niall. I know he had many failings, and the prayers of this Mass and at the crematorium will bear witness to the fact Niall, like the rest of us are all too human, and stand before God our Father in need of mercy and forgiveness.
However, I know that when Niall was baptised, God looked at him and said, ‘This is my beloved child. I am delighted with him’.
Niall showed himself as a son of God in many ways in his 49 years of life. He gave his time readily to others, be it in free maths lessons, sorting out people’s computer problems, and comforting those in distress. In fact, he found it hard to be on the receiving end of care in his last few weeks. He hated any kind of discord and was known as a great peace maker. I believe he sorted out a problem between two hospital staff while he was there.

Although not a regular church goer he had a great trust in God. He told me just after Christmas that he prayed every night, and believed in the sentiments of the meditation known as ‘Footprints’ where God tells us he walks with us throughout life. Where there is only one set of footprints, at the difficult times of life, it is not because God has deserted us, but because God is carrying us.

Niall always lived life to the full. He worked hard and played hard, but those who knew him will agree that there was an essential innocence, goodness and integrity about him that made him the most attractive of men.

I like to think that Jesus is saying to him now,
‘How blessed is Niall, he was gentle, he shall inherit the earth,
How blessed is Niall, he showed mercy, he shall have mercy shown to him,
how blessed is Niall, he was pure in heart, he shall see God.
How blessed is Niall, he was a peacemaker, he shall be called a son of God.’