Poignant tribute to a young man who touched many lives "He was everything to me, Kevin was my hero.' The words of a heart broken young man saying goodbye to his big brother. Mourners at the Requiem Mass held for 24-year old Constable Kevin Gorman were told how he and younger brother Shane had "so many things" they wanted to do together. Family, friends, colleagues and locals gathered together in unity and grief, most still trying to take in the tragic events that unfolded in the early hours of 23 November. The youngest police constable to lose his life in the accident on the Moygannon Road leaves behind his pregnant partner Debbie and their young daughter Shannyn, his mother Jackie and younger brother Shane. Hundreds of mourners packed into and outside Christ the King Church near Drumaness on a bitterly cold morning to bid farewell to a "smart, funny and confident" young man who touched many lives in his short years. Amongst them, Policing Board chairman Sir Des Rea, Police Ombundsman Al Hutchinson, Assistant Chief Constable Roy Toner and MLAs Alex Maskey, Caitriona Ruane and Dolores Kelly. A Liverpool shirt was draped over the coffin before a tribute written by Shane was read out by his Uncle Paddy. Describing Kevin as "the life and soul of any party", Shane said he "had crammed more into 24 years than many do in a lifetime." "It's important to remember the adventures and colourful life he led. As many of his good friends will tell you, he was a poser," he said. He said that while Kevin hadn't "got any more sensible" as he got older, he had met "the love of his life." "Kev and Smitty, as they called each other, were both as mad as each other, but t hey worked better than any couple," Shane's tribute added. Speaking of four-month old Shannyn, Shane described her as "the apple of her daddy's eye" and added he was an adoring father. Mourners were told that Kevin had secretly taken one of her socks with him in his pocket on a recent trip to Liverpool "so he could be close to her." Conducting the Mass, Fr Des Loughran said: "Jackie and Shane, part of you is missing and can never be replaced. "I cannot imagine how you will live without Kevin. "For some reason we do not know or understand, Kevin's life and that of his colleagues was ended tragically. "In that moment it wasn't only Kevin's life that was taken but a piece and part of each of us. "Four young lives, so full of potential, promise, happiness and hopes and dreams came to an abrupt end as they went to the aid of another who was in need." Members of Drumaness Mills Football Club and St Colman's GAC, both of which Kevin played for, formed a guard of honour as the funeral cortege left the small church and made its way to St Patrick's Cemetery in Ballynahinch. - Courtesy of the Mourne Observer, 3rd December 2008 Tweet

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