Mum’s agony as dancer daughter is buried

By Lindsay Fergus – 01 January 2010

Clutching a single white rose in her hands the heartbroken mother of Terri-Anne Mackin had to be supported by grieving relatives as she laid her talented daughter to rest yesterday.

The moving sight of Ann Mackin nestling her strained face against the side of the 16-year-old Irish dancing star’s coffin as she carried it into The Sacred Heart Church in north Belfast caused many mourners to shed a tear.

Hundreds of friends and family poured into the church on the Oldpark Road to bid a final goodbye to the beautiful teenager who died on Sunday. Terri-Anne fell asleep on the sofa at her family home on Cliftonville Road but never woke up. It is believed she could have suffered from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

Among mourners were members of Colaiste Feirste, the Irish speaking school on the Falls Road in west Belfast that Terri-Anne attended.

Requiem Mass, which was conducted in Irish, was led by Father Ciarán Hegarty.

The former All-Ireland dancing champion, who said on her bebo site that she was happiest when dancing, received a guard of honour from more than a dozen of her Irish dancing colleagues.

Terri-Anne was laid to rest in City Cemetery.