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TRIBUTES HAVE POURED in for Frank Bessong, who died after getting into difficulty while swimming in the River Liffey on Saturday.
The 13-year-old was a student in Moyle Park College, a secondary school for boys in Clondalkin.
Frank played football with the Usher Celtic Football Club. The Dublin District and Schoolboys League paid their respects on their Facebook page on Saturday.
The League said:
On behalf of the Clubs in the DDSL – we would like to offer our sincerest condolences to Usher Celtic Football Club on the tragic death of their young player today following their game in Memorial Park.
Tributes have also poured in on Frank’s Facebook page, with one mourner describing Frank as “one of the funniest lads I knew”. “Hope you’re having fun up there pal, you’ll never be forgotten” read another tribute.
A Garda spokeswoman said it is not known why the thirteen year old went into the water.
The body was recovered shortly after 4pm from the Liffey near Conyngham Road at Islandbridge, west of Dublin city centre. The body was brought to Dublin city morgue in Marino where a post-mortem was arranged.
Roger Sweeney of Irish Water Safety said: “Frank was only 13 years of age and in the past ten years, 32 other children aged 14 and under have drowned”.
Sweeney cautioned that the risk of drowning increases during Bank Holiday weekends and warmer weekends like last weekend as people partake in seasonal activities for the first time.
He also warned that the water is still too cold to swim in for extended periods of time.
The muscles in your arms and legs can cool within minutes and this reduces your ability to get back to shore safely.
According to Irish Water Safety, there is an average of 135 drownings a year in Ireland and 62% of these occur inland.
Sweeney advises people to swim in bathing areas that are recognised as safe, note the location of ring buoys and to never swim alone.
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Good start, now have the religious orders pay compensation.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: by liquidating all their assets. All of them!
If the Pope is genuinely sorry he would order dioceses across the world to stop dragging their feet and stonewalling and fighting compensation cases. Very little has changed in the Catholic hierarchy in the last few decades except that they’ve gotten better at P. R.
@Gerry McCaughey: 100% if they cared so much the vaults of gold would be emptied in restitution. Words have no meaning. Action is needed.
@Gerry McCaughey: he isn’t genuinely sorry
@Gerry McCaughey: I could be wrong but I think he has asked for that but is getting stop at ever turn,same here in Ireland with bishop Martin, could be wrong but think they genuinely want change.
Unbelievably corrupt organisation.
Where was the Canadian Government? It abandoned the indigenous people and their rights as a colonial power. The State has much to apologise for as well.
@feargal de cantuin: this article is about the catholic church’s role. The state have apologized and have started reparations. Will possibly never be enough but the Pope had to make an apology on behalf on the festering moral cesspit that was his church in the 20th century and before.
Unreal what happened to the indigenous people. Very like tuam.
What a terrible read. Centuries of abuse the article says and they still want to accept the popes self-invitation to visit and repeat his hollow apologies. They should should be refusing to host him, demanding more financial compensation and questioning in what other territories is the Catholic Church committing similar crimes today?
“I ask for God’s forgiveness for the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic Church,” – Gods representative on earth asking God for forgiveness for the actions of hundreds of Gods followers!, ya couldn’t make it up.
No apologies are enough anymore. I know religion is a comfort to many people. The Catholic church is no longer part of that. They are inexcusable.
@Daftbit Jelly: If you go back to the first organised societies, especially to Sumeria 5000 years ago, it’s easy to see how what we think of as religion came about. It wasn’t until about 1700 years ago that the Romans weaponised mono-theism. Religion may be a comfort, the same way that a fix of heroin is to an addict, but look at the destruction both bring with them.
I’m indigenous Canadian, an adoptee from the era of the Sixties Scoop, another method of taking chuldren from their families and stripping them of their language, culture and heritage. Also supported by this church. I also have family members directly impacted by the abuse that went on in the schools. I’m not sure what to make of this apology. It doesn’t give back the silenced languages. It doesn’t revive dead customs and traditions. It doesn’t restore the lost history and knowledge. The apology doesn’t heal the trauma and pain of surviving this abuse. Or the grief for those who didn’t. It does nothing to staunch the epidemic of suicide amongst indigenous youth. For an apology to be sincere, it must involve action. Otherwise its just words. Meaningless words at that.
An apology,makes everything all better
@David Nolan: Nobody said that but even in our country you see people want apology,let’s take responsibility first and then we can take punishment.
@David Nolan: what should he do?
He apologised to people in Ireland as well but the church here still refuses to pay the agreed monies to the state for the redress paid out so apologies like that are meaningless.
have your say