Stephen Gately: An unforgettable send-off

Published on Saturday 17 October 2009 19:51

THEY came in their thousands – some from the other side of the world – to be united in grief for a young Irish singer whose life had been cut tragically short.

Stephen Gately was celebrated yesterday in music, song, tears and laughter as friends, family and his Boyzone bandmates bade him farewell.

It was all summed up by a grief-wracked Ronan Keating, struggling to maintain composure at an occasion he could never have contemplated until a week ago, and who pledged his friend an "unforgettable send-off".

Paying a moving tribute, he said: "We have lost our brother and I've lost my wing man. He will live on in our songs and whenever us four are together, his spirit is alive.

"For Stephen, we'll carry on, but it will never be the same without him. A beautiful man who is now the perfect angel. Forever young and never forgotten."

Fans flocked to the Sheriff Street area of north Dublin to say farewell to the pop star – seven days after his body was found in his Majorcan apartment. The 33-year-was given an emotional send-off by a 3,500-strong crowd outside St Laurence O'Toole's Church, many of whom had spent the night camped there.

Gately's parents, Margaret and Martin, siblings Mark, Alan, Tony and Michelle and his partner Andrew Cowles hugged and supported each other as they left the chapel. Rosary beads were placed on Gately's coffin as the tearful band members carried their friend out of the church.

Gately's Boyzone bandmates had brought his body back from Spain on Friday and maintained an all-night coffin-side vigil in the church on Friday. Yesterday, they led the tributes at the packed funeral service, which was mainly attended by friends and family.

The four – Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch – had come outside at dawn to speak to fans to thank them for their support.

As the service got under way in the early afternoon, the quartet performed two songs together before carrying the coffin out of the church. Gately was cremated in a private service at the nearby Glasnevin Cemetery.

Keating, who broke down several times giving his eulogy, told mourners: "The world has lost one of its brightest stars. We know Stephen has now found perfect peace. I am going to miss you brother. I love you and I always will."

Graham added: "He brought colour to the band, we are black and white without him."

Father Declan Blake told the service Gately had been baptised in the same church 33 years ago.

He added: "Through his singing and entertaining, Stephen touched the lives of many, many people."

The band's manager, X Factor judge Louis Walsh, was too upset to speak at the service. But outside the church, he said: "This is a sad day, but we have to celebrate Stephen's life. Stephen was a great person, never offended anybody in his whole life, never gave me any problems.

"I think this is the best place in the world for him today, this is where he grew up."

As the day began, the streets filled around the working-class area where Gately was brought up and laid to rest.

Banners paying tribute to the star had been hung on the church gates and outside neighbouring homes. One said simply: "Goodbye Stephen from Sheriff Street. RIP." Another said: "Farewell Stephen from ya old friends."

Loudspeakers broadcast the ceremony to the packed pavements, amid tight security.

Many fans stood arm in arm, wiping away tears, as younger devotees scrambled up lampposts or perched atop traffic cones to get a better view of the church, which had a capacity of just 550.

Wendy Lee, 26, from Taiwan had travelled from her home in Taipei to be in Dublin for the funeral of a man she had idolised since she was a teenager.

"He was so kind and friendly and I really loved his songs," she said. "When my friend told me he had died, I just cried. I couldn't eat and I couldn't sleep."

The crowd, some of them clutching white roses, burst into spontaneous applause during the service.

Among the mourners were Bertie Ahern, the former Irish Taoiseach, and David Furnish, Elton John's partner, who had introduced Gately to his partner Cowles.

Furnish said: "I think sometimes God wants the good pure souls early and that's the way I think of it. I can't make sense of it any other way because he was such a good man."

Furnish also attacked the amount of speculation over the star's death – amid claims that Gately had been out drinking for several hours and had smoked cannabis.

Gately's body was discovered by Georgi Dochev, a Bulgarian man the singer and Cowles had brought back to their apartment from a gay nightclub. A post-mortem examination revealed he had died as a result of a build-up of fluid on the lungs. Police have ruled out foul play.

Furnish said: "A lot of the things that have been written are deeply insensitive. I think they are ignorant, I think they are ill-founded and I think they should allow him to rest in peace."