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U.S. NEWSThursday 29 October 2015

Irish leader visits California to honor balcony victims

LISA LEFF Sabina Higgins, second from right, tears up at a tree planting ceremony alongside her husband Michael Higgins, at right, the presi-
Associated Press dent of Ireland, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Berkeley, Calif.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The
president of Ireland met Associated Press
with Berkeley’s mayor, pub-
lic safety workers, health years old, and the 22-year- multi-unit buildings this sum- Miller, Niccolai Schuster, have gone back to their
care providers and area old Irish-American cousin of mer, city spokesman Mat- and Eimear Walsh, all from college studies. One, Clo-
residents on Wednesday one of them died after the thai Chakko said Wednes- Dublin. The sixth, Ashley dagh Cogley, was para-
to thank them for helping balcony gave way, tossing day. Donohoe, was from North- lyzed from the fall that sev-
when a balcony snapped them and another seven Higgins, who was elected ern California but had dual ered her spinal cord, and
off an apartment building, young people celebrating to a seven-year term in Irish-American citizenship. another, Aoife Beary, suf-
killing six college students at the party 50 feet down 2011, is nearing the middle She and Burke were cous- fered a severe head injury,
and injuring seven others. to the street below. of an eight-day West Coast ins. Donohoe’s immediate Grant said.
President Michael Higgins A city investigation re- visit that already has in- family attended the cer- Before the collapse, the
called the balcony col- vealed that the wooden cluded a stop in Seattle, a emonies on Wednesday Bay Area was the destina-
lapse that happened dur- beams supporting the visit to Google Inc.’s head- along with several cousins tion of choice for the desti-
ing a birthday party on structure were rotted quarters and a speech on from Ireland who made the nation of choice for a large
June 16 “a tragedy that has through from water dam- world hunger at the Univer- trip to honor both Donohoe share of the Irish students
affected our people very age. The Alameda County sity of California, Berkeley. and Burke. who come to the U.S. on
deeply.” Five of the young district attorney has been The type of evergreen tree Several of the seven Irish summer work visas each
people who died were conducting an investiga- selected for the planting students injured in the col- year.
from Ireland and working in tion to determine if criminal ceremony was picked be- lapse spent weeks under- Grant said it’s too soon to
the San Francisco Bay area charges are warranted. cause it is native to both going surgeries and recu- know if the numbers will be
for the summer. A number of other balco- Ireland and California, perating in the Bay Area, down next year, but that he
“We were told and wit- nies or decks at risk of failing Bates’ office said. and the last to return to does not expect a change.
nessed from afar your have been identified and The students who died in Ireland only left the U.S. last If anything, he said, “the
quick and unwavering sup- required to undergo repairs the accident were Olivia month. bonds between the peo-
port for our students and by Jan. 14 since local offi- Burke, Eoghan Colligan, Irish Consul-General Philip ple of Ireland and Berkeley
their families,” Higgins told cials ordered a review of all Niccolai Schuster, Lorcán Grant said a few of them are even stronger.”q
a group of first responders
at a hotel two blocks away
from where the balcony
gave way.
Higgins and Berkeley May-
or Tom Bates shoveled dirt
around a pair of strawber-
ry tree saplings planted in
honor of the victims in the
corner of a downtown city
park near the Library Gar-
dens complex, the site of
the accident.
Bates said the City Council
on Tuesday gave final ap-
proval to more stringent
construction and inspec-
tion rules for balconies and
decks that were a response
to the tragedy.
“This event is not going to
go unnoticed. It’s not go-
ing to go down as a foot-
note in history,” Bates said.
“We are going to change
the way we do business in
Berkeley so it never hap-
pens again.”
Five Irish students, all 21