Ms Minnie Connors:

Everybody was asked to switch off their mobile phones when they came in but I had to put mine on silent because of the fear in my heart. I have three teenagers. I have five children at home. I have one married who is 18. She suffered severely with anxiety attacks since her aunt died. I have a 16 year old, a 17 year old and two younger ones, aged ten and nine. I cannot switch off my phone. As Mr. Martin Reilly stated, we do not switch off. If I switch off my phone, I have it in mind that my Johnny is trying to ring me to tell me that he is going to do something to himself or Mary is feeling unwell in the bedroom. As Travellers, we do not switch off from our children and from our families and friends. We are always thinking when we are talking to them whether this is the last time we will see them. We kind of make a laugh about it and then we will joke about it. In Wexford, we do that. It is becoming such a normal life event. It is just expected. I go to funerals of young people and look at their children crying at their graves and say, "Lord have mercy, they were too young to die." That is it. We are accepting it.