Priest at Daniel's funeral blames state neglect for 'death of a child'
Wednesday June 09 2010
FR Peter McVerry, a tireless advocate for the needs of the disadvantaged and dispossessed, did not pull his punches as he articulated who he thought was to blame for Daniel McAnaspie's death.
"He was still a child, he should not have died. We cannot ignore the fact that a contributing factor to his death was the neglect of the State," said the priest who knew Daniel, a troubled teenager who died a terrible death.
It was a stark statement. It needed no further elaboration. The words boomed within the cavernous interior of the Church of the Annunciation in Finglas West, Dublin.
The hapless Health Service Executive didn't even know that Daniel, who was in care, was missing for almost three months when his mutilated body was found dumped in a ditch in Co Meath in May.
The system was dysfunctional, said Fr McVerry and under-resourced. All of these things, as well as the failure to provide Daniel with a safe and secure place to live where his needs could be addressed by the social and health system, resulted in his early death.
Daniel had suffered a particularly brutal death, the climax to a difficult life in which both his parents Leo and Martina died. Daniel was put in over 12 care and foster placements. At his requiem mass yesterday, hundreds listened as Fr McVerry lambasted the State which "bailed out bankers" while presiding over a crumbling system of childcare.
"This childcare system will be expensive but if the failed banks can be given a blank cheque then a failed childcare system is no less important," he said.
"Now the Government tells us they don't have the money, they don't have the resources -- it means in government-speak it's not important enough," said Fr McVerry.
Known as 'Dano', Daniel's final journey began just after 11am when a funeral carriage pulled by two black Friesian horses arrived at the church.
Daniel's family, as it is now, filed inside but not all the family members were there.
Reform
Even after all of its pitiful failures in caring for Daniel, the State inexplicably took one more opportunity to add to the pain; Daniel's brother Edward was barred by prison authorities from attending the service.
Amid the bleak circumstances though, Fr McVerry said Daniel's death would have a lasting legacy. There was now a momentum for change, he said, one which could lead to proper reform of the childcare and protection system.
Directly addressing the teenager's family, the priest said: "You can be proud that the Daniel you know and loved played a significant part in making Ireland a better and safer place for children".
Daniel's sisters -- Catriona, Nikita, Dina -- and brother Keith, as well as his grandmother Christine and his aunts and uncles wore yellow ribbons. Positioned by the coffin was a football shirt, a framed portrait and a collage of other happier moments in his life including visits to Santa and birthday parties.
Daniel disappeared from his HSE accommodation on February 26 and was last seen in the Whitestown area of Blanchardstown. It wasn't until May 13 that his body was discovered in a field. He had been killed with a garden shears.
"Justice will be served," Daniel's sister Nikita had said at the end of the service. Mourners then watched as the black carriage moved off to Glasnevin cemetery. It carried a number of huge wreaths including ones that said 'Dano', 'Brother' 'Grandson' and 'Pal'.
- Ciaran Byrne
Irish Independent
