Maryhill blast memorial service pays tributes

QUIET and composed, they paused to remember the nine victims of the worst industrial disaster in Scotland since Piper Alpha.

Archbishop Mario Conti leads the Grovepark memorial service with Lord Provost Liz Cameron (left). Pictured centre is Very Rev John Miller, moderator of Glasgow Presbytery, with Rev Christine Jones, of the Methodist Church (right). Picture: Evening Times.

• Archbishop Mario Conti's reflection (PDF, 116kb)
• Rev John Miller's reflection (PDF, 84kb)

More than 1000 people attended a memorial service at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow yesterday for those killed and injured in the Maryhill factory blast on May 11.

The hour-long service, hosted by Glasgow City Council, included prayers and scripture readings from senior figures of many denominations, including Mario Conti, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow; the Rev Angela Long and the Rev Christine Jones, of the Methodist Church; Major David Hinton, West Scotland divisional commander of the Salvation Army; Very Rev John Miller, moderator of the Church of Scotland's Glasgow Presbytery.

Liz Cameron, lord provost of Glasgow, lit tall white candles in a tribute to the five men and four women who died.

Clare O'Neill, a violinist, played a solo, which was followed by a lament, Highland Cathedral, played by Jim Semple, the lord provost's piper.

Ms Cameron said: "So many families have suffered and it seems fitting that the city should hold a service of this kind to express its solidarity with the survivors and support the close friends and relatives of those who lost their lives.

"But the service has another purpose. It has a healing purpose as well."

Many of those injured in the explosion were among the congregation, including Nick Downie, the son of the owners of ICL Plastics, who was walking on crutches, and John Turner, a company director, who lost two legs in the accident.

Brian Sweeney, Strathclyde firemaster, and some 150 firefighters attended.

During the service, the Very Rev John Miller, moderator of Glasgow Presbytery, paid tribute to the dead and injured.

He said: "Unique each one of them, they are irreplaceable and today we have thought of them.

"We have thought of the injured men and women who for the rest of their lives will bear their own personal reminders of that tragic day.

"We have thought of the emergency workers whose dedication sustained a sense of hope until those sad moments came when hope faded."

It was the last of a number of services remembering Margaret Brownlie, 49, from Strathaven; Annette Doyle, 34, of Glasgow; Peter Ferguson, 52, from Kilbarchan; Thomas McAulay, 41, of Mount Florida; Stewart McColl, 60, from West Kilbride; Tracey McErlane, 27, of Possilpark; Kenneth Murray, 45, from Paisley; Timothy Smith, 31, from Johnstone; and Ann Trench, 34, of Colston.

Candles and tears for nine victims of tragedy

By David Leask, Evening Times, July 5, 2004.

THEY came as a sea of dark suits to pay their final respects.

Friends and relatives in their Sunday best mingled with firefighters and police officers in their braided uniform jackets, starched white shirts and black ties.

Among them were the survivors: two in wheelchairs, one hobbling on crutches.

More than a thousand prayed and sang together in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall yesterday to remember the nine lives claimed in the Maryhill plastics factory explosion.

They did so eight long weeks after the blast shattered the peace of the morning of Tuesday, May 11, sparking one of the biggest and longest rescue operations in recent Scottish history.

The sound of the explosion, said Glasgow Archbishop Mario Conti, who led yesterday's service, was a "call to action".

The sound of the music in the Royal Concert Hall, he said, was a "call to prayer".

Archbishop Conti began the ceremony by describing the dark last days of the search for survivors.

He told how he lit a candle in St Columba's Church in Maryhill for Timothy Smith, the last victim to be pulled from the rubble and put it next to the candles that were already burning.

He said: "There were now nine candles above the altar, one for each of those who died."

And there were nine tall Paschal candles in the Royal Concert Hall yesterday too, all from St Columba's.

They were lit by Lord Provost Liz Cameron as a solo violinist, Clare O'Neill, played a slow lament, drawing tears from some and cries from a baby in the congregation.

The lament was followed by words from Methodist Angela Long and David Hinton of the the Salvation Army.

The Church of Scotland's John Miller said the victims - Margaret Brownlie, Annette Doyle, Peter Ferguson, Thomas McAulay, Stewart McColl, Tracey McErlane, Kenneth Murray, Timothy Smith and Ann Trench - were "irreplaceable".

He also praised the Glasgow community for rallying around the victims and their families, who gathered in Maryhill Central Community Halls for news and support during the days of the rescue operation.

He talked of the people who took sandwiches and even toiletries to the waiting families.

Representatives of all of Glasgow's community was at the service.

Among the dark suits were a few summer frocks from the warm July streets, a lone buddhist in orange robes, three paramedics in their distinctive greens and Haleema Malik, a Labour councillor for Maryhill, in her white Muslim mourning gown.

They were among the cities MPs and MSPs, councillors and clerics who were there along with first minister Jack McConnell.

There too was Firemaster Brian Sweeney, the man who for five terrible days of waiting put the words to what all of Glasgow was thinking.

Leaving the ceremony with wife Pamela, 41, and son, Ryan, 6, he said: "There comes a point at which we have to stop reflecting on the past. In the public sense today was the last major event until the first anniversary.

"But, in private, the sense of loss will continue for the families."

Survivor Nick Downie, the son of ICL Plastics owners Campbell and Lorna Downie, left the service on crutches.

Mr Downie, 39, was plucked from the rubble five hours after the blast, his legs crushed.

Yesterday he said: "I liked the comments from the Rev Miller about the community and the company being a community as well.

"I don't think you can say this service marks an end. There is still so much to be done for all the families involved."

"But it is a very good thing the council has done."

Others said closure would only come when they knew what caused the blast on May 11.

Firemaster Sweeney said: "We are definitely closer to establishing what happened."