IN A victim impact statement to the Central Criminal Court, Charlotte Nolan, mother of the late Seán Nolan, said:
“Facing our second Christmas without Seán, the pain and loss we feel is insufferable. When Daragh was asked what he would like from Santa, instead of the usual list of toys and presents, he just asked if he could have his brother back.”
“Nothing of the goodness of our treasured son Seán was portrayed in these, the dispassionate surroundings of the Central Criminal Court.
“Seán was a happy, healthy, handsome, athletic and extremely popular young man with his whole life ahead of him.
“Some of the happiest memories I have are the two of us chatting about what he had got up to and which girl he happened to be seeing at a particular time.”
“Instead of planning Seán’s 21st birthday celebrations this coming September . . . we will have to somehow find the courage to face the horrendous task of organising a headstone for our child’s grave.
“Throughout this horrific time, the one consolation has been to realise the goodness and compassion we have received from the people around us.”
“The things that used to drive us crazy about Seán are the things we miss the most, like having to drag him out of bed in the morning or making sure his homework was done.”
“As parents, the pain and grief we feel is unending and as people we are mere shadows of the people we were before Seán was taken from us. A little piece of us also died that day.”
“The tags from the clothes Seán proudly wore to his graduation are still on his bed. We have been unable to change anything about it.”
