Tyrone gaelic footballer Niall Devlin has described how the night he learned his brother was killed in a crash on the A5 will “live forever” in his memory.
Caolan Devlin (30) died in March in a collision between his car and a lorry on the A5 between Omagh and Ballygawley.
A member of Naomh Colmcille hurling club, Caolan became the latest gaelic games player to die on a road that has claimed more than 50 lives since a planned dual carriageway upgrade was first announced in 2007.
Tyrone GAA launched the A5: Enough is Enough campaign group last year in a bid to push for work to begin on the long-awaited upgrade.
This week, Stormont infrastructure minister John O’Dowd confirmed he would be recommending the upgrade should proceed, following last year’s public inquiry into the project.
Speaking on the BBC’s GAA Social podcast, Caolan’s younger brother Niall described how he had been training with the Tyrone football squad on the night of the crash, and afterwards learned there had been a bad accident on the road to Omagh.
“You’re thinking ‘not another family’,” Niall said, referring to the grief brought upon so many due to the A5.
“Obviously I never thought it would be my own.”
He described ringing his father on the way home to Coalisland, and “I knew there was something up just by the sound of his voice”.
“I had never heard his voice so shaky,” he said.
“He just said ‘Niall, you need to get home.”
His father told him Caolan had been in an accident, but when he arrived home, he was given the full tragic news.
- A5 crash victim named locally as brother of Tyrone GAA playerOpens in new window
- Mourners hear Caolan Devlin ‘had the eye to see what others needed and the heart to go out and try to help whenever he could’Opens in new window
- Tyrone GAA pledge support as grieving Niall Devlin plays part in victory days after laying brother to restOpens in new window
“I got into the house, and every single one of my family members were there - cousins, aunties, uncles - the whole thing. I broke down and said ‘what happened?’ I caught eyes with my da, and he said Caolan has passed.”
The former Tyrone U20 captain said: “It’s a night you’re never going to forget”, adding: “It was just a night that will live forever in your memory; you just have to learn to deal with it now I suppose.”
Niall said the reality of what had happened really hit him the following night when his brother’s coffin was brought home.
“It was a really, really difficult moment once they opened that coffin and seeing your brother lying there. It took the soul out of you nearly.”
The footballer spoke of how the community rallied to support his family, and the guards of honour provided at Caolan’s funeral by his hurling club and the Tyrone squad.
Niall returned to training two days after the funeral, in a bid to cope with his grief, and described driving along the A5 to reach the Tyrone HQ at Garvaghy.
“I had never been as scared driving in my life, because of the road and everything that happened,” he said.
Niall went on to play in a clash with Monaghan the following weekend, when a minute’s silence for Caolan was held, and he was personally consoled by the Monaghan players.
“Once we were all lined up, I knew my family would be proud and Caolan would be even prouder looking down,” he added.
