Youth committee activist dies in Spain

» Peadar Whelan

Anyone wishing to donate money to help Ryan’s family should contact Sinn Féin Councillor Stephen Corr through any Belfast Sinn Féin office.

HUNDREDS of people from across Belfast have come together in a show of community solidarity with the family of young Ryan Brady, who died in tragic circumstances while on holiday in Spain at the end of August.

A founding member of the Mairéad Farrell Republican Youth Committee, 18-year-old Ryan was found unconscious by police in a public park in Magaluf on 24 August. Officers tried to revive him but Ryan died before paramedics arrived.

In a spontaneous show of support for the Brady family, on Monday 26 August, a massive street collection to help raise the £9,000 needed to bring Ryan’s body home was organised by members of the Mairéad Farrell Youth Committee, Sinn Féin, the Ballymurphy ex-prisoners’ group, community groups and activists across Belfast and with the input from hundreds of local people.

Ryan was an incredibly active member of the Mairéad Farrell group and was on the streets supporting many republican causes and raising awareness of issues such as the Ballymurphy Massacre. He marched against the G8 summit held in Fermanagh this year and was seen on pickets and protests supporting the oppressed people of Palestine.

Anyone wishing to donate money to help Ryan’s family should contact Sinn Féin Councillor Stephen Corr through any Belfast Sinn Féin office.