No memorial held on holiday island
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FOR a week, just as at home in Ireland, it was front page news in Mauritus.
But yesterday on the holiday island the funeral of Michaela Harte went totally unnoticed.
No services were held to correspond with the burial in Ireland, there was no minute's silence, not a single bunch of flowers laid.
The murder of the 27-year-old horrified the Indian Ocean island for almost a week, with locals worried the awful killing could damage the tourism trade.
Taxi drivers, hotel workers and ordinary people in the street spoke of their shock, and of how this was the first time a holidaymaker had been killed on the island.
At the Legends Hotel, where three hotel employees were allegedly involved in her death, guests strolled between the hotel and the poolside, passing by room 1025.
Ceremony
The room was sealed off after the honeymooner's lifeless body was found in the bath last Monday afternoon.
A short mass was held at the hotel on Thursday last at the request of the staff but manager Brice Lunot said they did not hold a ceremony yesterday for fear on intruding on the remaining guests.
Mauritius is multicultural but largely Hindu, with few Catholic churches on the island. While the crowds spilled out from St Malachy's church outside Ballygawley, no such service was held here.
Leave your tribute to Michaela Harte at announcement.ie
Michaela Harte - related topics
- Edel Kennedy in Mauritius
Irish Independent
