Friends of drama student Ana Hick, who died in hospital after collapsing outside a nightclub in Dublin city centre, have gathered at the Irish Film Academy in Temple Bar to remember her.
Ms Hick, who would have turned 19 on Tuesday, collapsed on Middle Abbey Street in the early hours of Saturday and died in the Mater hospital on Sunday evening.
The teenager, who came from Dalkey, had been out with friends at the Twisted Pepper nightclub before she became unwell.
Gardaí are awaiting details of the arrangements for a postmortem, a spokeswoman said. Garda sources said the results of toxicology tests would be required before it could be determined what drugs, if any, Ms Hick had taken.
However, gardaí believe the consumption of drugs was a factor in the teenager’s death and are trying to establish if she sourced ecstasy-style tablets.
The founder of the Irish Film Academy, Rachel Sarah Murphy, said Ms Hick's classmates and teachers were devastated.
“For the students it has been a horrendously hard weekend,” she said. “They want to meet and talk about Ana, and I just want them all to be together. Even those who didn’t know Ana are coming in,” she said before last night’s event.
Ms Murphy said no one had a bad word to say about Ms Hick. “She was just one of life’s beautiful people with a hugely bright future ahead of her.”
Ms Hick was nearing the end of a six-month course on acting for camera at the academy. “She would have been heading into her finals where she would be doing her scene work.”
She had us in tears
Ms Murphy said she took Ms Hick’s class last Thursday and saw the monologue she was preparing. “It would have been super. She had us all in tears. She just loved acting and she was so brilliant at it.”
Tributes have also been paid by her former school, Loreto Abbey Dalkey. The school prayed for her on Monday and its board of management, principal, staff, students and parents expressed their condolences.
School chaplain Will Flanagan read out a prayer at the start of the school day.
“Today is such a sad day for so many people in our school community. All of us who knew Ana will remember her as someone who was full of life and laughter, full of fun and talent. Her sad death reminds us again of the bonds we form as a school community,” he said.
“Even though one of us may no longer be here in the building, our presence can still be felt. When we lose one of our own we all feel the loss. This morning we say a special prayer for Ana, now that she is with God we pray she is at peace.We remember her parents. The depth of the loss they must be feeling today is unimaginable. May they find support in the people around them.”
Mr Flanagan said he often found comfort in the words of the American writer Mark Helprin and his description of losing loved ones.
Quoting from the novel A Soldier of the Great War, he said: "Perhaps passing through the gates of death is like passing quietly through the gate in a pasture fence. On the other side, you keep walking, without the need to look back. No shock, no drama, just the lifting of a plank or two in a simple wooden gate. Neither pain, nor floods of light, nor great voices, but just the silent crossing of a meadow."
Extremely special
Ms Hick’s mother, Elga, posted a video on Facebook of mother and daughter singing a song from the soundtrack of Disney’s
The Little Mermaid
while driving in the car.
Ms Murphy said the mother and daughter had an “extremely special” relationship. Her mother and her father, Tim, were very grateful for the support they were receiving.
“The whole family is just devastated. They are so close. They’ve asked for privacy obviously while they go through this horrendous time,” she told Pat Kenny on Newstalk FM.
Ms Hick’s funeral Mass will take place in the Church of the Assumption in Dalkey on Wednesday morning.
