Memorial service for David Gavin as family return home

MISSING David Gavin

Edwin McGreal

A memorial service for missing Breaffy footballer David Gavin will take place in Castlebar next Wednesday.

Mr Gavin's body has not been found since he got into difficulty in a river near Kinbasket Lake in British Colombia, Canada, on June 30 last.

Despite an extensive search since, no trace of Mr Gavin has been found.

The underwater element of the search was called off last week - though there are hopes it will resume in the coming weeks.

For now, the search will be restricted to air and boat patrols in the hope his body will resurface.

Mr Gavin's parents, Michael and Angela, sister Aoife, girlfriend Ciara, family members and friends who have been at the search area for weeks, are due home in the coming days.

On Tuesday next Breaffy GAA Clubhouse will be open from 4pm to 8pm so people can come and meet with the Gavin family and offer their sympathies. The Gavin house is strictly private.

On Wednesday at 11am there will be a memorial Mass for David in the Church of the Holy Rosary, Castlebar.

However, in Canada, the search goes on. There will be daily helicopter flights over the lake in the coming days and weeks while boats will also search the water surface.

A husband and wife team who specialise in such underwater searches and were at the scene for three weeks, left in recent days.

However, there are hopes they will return in the coming weeks. Members of the ISSC football club, whom David played with in Vancouver, are continuing to co-ordinate the helicopter searches.

A huge fundraising campaign, in Ireland and in Canada, has seen hundreds of thousands euro raised to help with the search.

Mr Gavin was en route from Vancouver to Calgary for a GAA tournament with ISSC teammates when they stopped to swim at Kinbasket Lake. Mr Gavin got into difficulty after he jumped in to a nearby river from a bridge.

Despite frantic efforts at the time, he was not found.

David Gavin, from Springfield, Castlebar emigrated to Canada with his girlfriend Ciara O'Malley last February.

David played football with Breaffy up until the end of last year. A talented defender, he was corner-back on the Mayo Minor team which reached the 2009 All-Ireland Minor Football Final, where they lost to Armagh. He also represented Mayo at Under 21 level in 2012. 
He has been twice a Mayo News Club Stars nominee after staring for Breaffy en route to two county senior finals, in 2013 and 2015. He was also a noted runner in his younger years.
He was a very popular member of the Breaffy team and was said to have been really enjoying life in Vancouver where he and Ciara were working and living. 

Breaffy GAA Club, ISSC Vancouver and Mayo County Council - where Michael and Angela Gavin both work - have all organised fundraising efforts in recent weeks while a host of clubs and individuals have all held events to assist the David Gavin Fund.