Mourners told of teenager's love of music - 
By Dick Hogan, in Shanagarry - The Irish Times, May 15 1995)
There were scenes of intense sadness in the quiet east Cork village of Shanagarry yesterday as the remains of Bernadette O'Brien, the teenager who died after being crushed at the Point Theatre last weekend, were laid to rest.
Bernadette's family was surrounded by hundreds of sympathizers in the church near her home, where Requiem Mass was concelebrated. Among the congregation were classmates from the transition year at St Colman's Community College. During the readings, they broke down as they remembered their friend and fellow-student, who was described as having two great loves in her life, Manchester United and music.
Dozens of wreaths were laid in the church grounds before the Mass, which had to be broadcast outside to facilitate the large number of mourners. One wreath was from the Smashing Pumpkins, Bernadette's favourite group, who were performing at the Point last Saturday when she suffered fatal internal injuries in a crush.
Another was from Virgin Records, the group's recording label. Other floral tributes bore poignant messages, remembering a young woman full of life, who, the congregation was told, had been planning her trip to Dublin since last Christmas.
In his homily, Father David Herlihy said it was difficult to find words to comfort Bernadette's mother, Mrs Anne-Marie O'Brien, her father, Mr Noel O'Brien, and her only brother, Brendan (15).
After the removal on Monday evening last, he added, he had spent "a precious" 10 minutes with Mr O'Brien in Bernadette's room, looking at her poster collection, her records and the music project on which she had been working. "For her, last weekend was the summit. Manchester United won the double and she was going to see her favourite group in the flesh."
Father Herlihy said: "It is very hard to find words to explain the death of a young person in such a sudden and shocking way. It is very hard to find words that would bring comfort and healing.
"There are times in life when words fail. Bernadette's death is one such time. All we can do is to offer prayers and be here for her family. It is almost possible to touch the wave of sympathy and support for the family, not just in the locality but from the whole country.
"Because the shock of Bernadette's death was felt by the entire country, especially by teenagers, thousands of people could say: `There but for the grace of God go I' after this awful tragedy, but today, the O'Brien family must travel that road.
"It is unnatural when a young life is lost in this way. We understand when an elderly person dies because that is part of the natural process, but not when a child not yet 17 loses her life. It seems unnatural, wrong and unfair.
"Her parents had great hopes for Bernadette. She was in the prime of her life. Maybe she would go on to college, or settle down and have a family. But this was all cut short in one moment of pain and suffering. In a moment, we were plunged into total blackness. There was no time to prepare.
"She set out last Friday full of life and expectation. There is a tendency to say that it was the will of God, but I don't think so.
"No human parents would wish for it to happen, and I don't believe that God did either. But God gives us the gift of freedom, a gift cherished especially by teenagers, and one of the sad consequences of that is that a tragic death can occur."
Bernadette's parents could be assured, Father Herlihy added, that her death was of great concern to God and that she was in a better place.
"Today we reach out to the only light that can penetrate the darkness, that is, the light of Christ. We will remember Bernadette as a girl full of life, a practical joker, a friendly, pleasant person who was much loved."
Rockers cancel Belfast date after fan's death -
By Elaine Lester - Belfast Telegraph, May 13 1996
Girl crushed in crowd at Point concert
AMERICAN rock band The Smashing Pumpkins were today returning home after the tragic death of a teenage girl during their weekend concert in Dublin.
The cult group had been booked to play at the Ulster Hall in Belfast last night, but the date was canceled as a mark of respect. It is not yet clear whether the band are planning to reschedule their Belfast gig, which was to have been the last date in their European tour.
The Ulster Hall concert had been a sell-out, but promoters MCD said all tickets are refundable at the point of purchase. Bernadette O'Brien, 17, from Middleton, Co Cork, died in Dublin's Mater Hospital yesterday afternoon from serious injuries she received when crushed by the crowd at the Point Theatre concert on Saturday night. Four other young people were injured in the same incident. A Dail Deputy today said plans to hold music fest Feile 1996 at Dublin's Point Depot must be seriously examined following the weekend tragedy.
Fianna Fail Deputy Sean Haughey was speaking as it was confirmed an inquiry will be held into the death of 17- year-old Bernadette O'Brien. The tragedy has raised questions about safety at concerts and could damage proposals to stage Feile 1996 at the Point. Concert promoters MCD and the Point Exhibition Company in a statement extended their sympathy to the dead girl's family and friends and said there would be a full inquiry into the incident.
"The safety of the concert- going public has been, and always will be, the primary concern of MCD and the Point Exhibition Company," it said. It added that the concert was organized in accordance with the Code of Practice for Pop Concerts recently issued by the Republic's Department of Education. Today Mr Haughey said the priority was to establish the facts of what happened at the Point on Saturday night. "If there are things that cannot be rectified then it would be criminal to allow Feile to proceed," he said. "We need to establish if the Point Depot is safe for such an event."
Mr Haughey will press at a meeting of Dublin City Council tonight for a full fire authority report on the concert to be made public. He said there were conflicting reports as to what had happened at the concert and the situation needed to be clarified. All the regulations and Codes of Practice for concert seemed to be voluntary and this needed to be examined, the TD said. A Garda spokesman said: "There was a crowd of about 8,500 in total. "Once the Smashing Pumpkins heard about the incident, they finished early and their Belfast gig was canceled." --
GARDAI (irish police) TO INTERVIEW WITNESSES
by Don Lavery
Witnesses to the tragic incident at the Point are to be interviewed by Gardai in an inquiry which is expected to take up to ten days. "We already have taken statements, some of them on Saturday night, and we will be interviewing people who were in the area where the incident happened" , said Superintendent William O'Donoghue of Store Street who is heading the investigation.
He said Gardai had a lot of names of people who witnessed the incident while the security staff, concert promoters and management would also be interviewed.
"The point has excellent procedures in place but we don't know what went wrong."
"The Garda inquiry will be to what exactly happened and what recommendation we can make to see it will not happen again," said Mr. O'Donoghue.
Asked if the Gardai report will be sent to the Directort of Public Prosecutions he replied: "It depends on what is going to emerge from the inquiry."
Mr O'Donoghue said the promoter Denis Desmond had called off the concert after the crowd had been asked several times to move back and control themselves.
He expected the City Coroner would hold an inquest into the death. A post mortem examination was carried out yesterday morning and Mr O'Donoghue said the City Coroner would be given the result and he may then release it to the Gardai.
Mr O'Donoghue appealed to anyone with any useful information to contact Store Street Garda Station in Dublin - phone 01-8745415.
FANS TELL OF PANIC SCENES
by Alan O'Keeffe
Young concert-goers described yesterday how their Saturday night outing to the Point turned into a nightmare.
Caoimhe McCann (18) of Dalkey spoke with fellow students at the institute of Education in Lesson Street of her determination to escape from danger at the concert.
"fifteen of us were holding hands near the front. It was so crowded it was hard to stand up. When all the pushing started, I said to may friends - 'Lets get the hell out of here! No way are we staying here!'" she said.
"Billy in the band looked really freaked when he told people to go home. People were booing until they were told a girl was dying. Everyone then were really upset and started looking for their friends," she said.
Aiobheann O'Gorman(17) from Rathgar said: "The crowd was swaying out of control. So many were pushing forward. There was just too many. We were frantic afterwards looking for friends".
Susie Buckley(17) also from Ballincollig, said their was an area half way down the concert venue which was lined with barriers. "Some of the worst crush was behind those barriers" she added.
FAMILY PRIVACY PLEA
The family of tragic teenager Bernadette O'Brien wanted their privacy respected by the media. Fathe David Herlihy, curate of their home parish in Shanagarry, said yesterday.
About 20 friends and relatives, including her parents Noel and Anne Marie and brother Brendan, who had travelled from Cork to Dublin's Mater Hospital, attended the removal of Bernadette's remains yesterday afternoon.
MINISTER's WORRY AT DRINK CLAIM
Sports minister Bernard Allen yesterday urged the Point Depot tragedy inquiry to answer claims that children as young as 14 were at the concert in a drinking environment writes Dick Cross.
He said it was clear that any investigtion would have to determine if safety and fire regulations or regulations governing buildings and crowd control had to be adhered to.
If it was proven that the Point Depot was not in a position to adequately cope with a crowd of 8,000, then the licence should be reviewed, the Sports Minister said.
Speaking on RTE's Radio Cork he said he did not wish to anticipate the findings of any investigation.
IS MOSHING MURDER?
Rolling Stone
July 1996
When the lights dimmed at Dublin's Point Theatre at 9:30 p.m. on May 11, 7,000 Irish fans, crammed hip to hip on the floor, erupted as Smashing Pumpkins hit the stage. With the night's first note, swirling most pits sprang up, and 110 security guards scarmbled behind the barricades t control the flow of the crowd.
The adrenalin-pumpkins ritual was the same one that has greeted the Pumpkins at every stop of their Inifinite Saness world tour. Yet almost immediatley, band leader Billy Corgan sensed that something was wrong. Five minutes into the show, he stopped admonished the crowd and demanded that everyone take a step back. The crowd did now relent, and at 10 p.m. Corgan said that the show would be halted if the moshing didn't stop.
It was already to late for Bernadette O'Brien, a 170year-old high school student from the small coastal village of Shanagarry, in County Cook. Camped out near the front of the stage with a hometown friend and 2 cousins from Dublin, O'Brien was overpowered by a surge of the crowd and crushed by the mases.
Informed of O'Brien's injuries, Corgan addressed the crowd. "I'm sorry we can't play ion," he said. "The gi's over. There's a girl oout there who's nearly dying. We as human beings cannot conitue to play up here while people are getting seriously hurt down there," The next day, doctors at Dublin's Mater Hospital disconnected O'Birend's life-support system and announced that she had died from massive internal injuries. The Pumpkins sent flowers to the funerl and released a staement extending their condolences to O'Brien's family and friends. (The group and its managers declined further comment.)
