Funeral Held For Murdered Twelve-Year-Old Schoolgirl

There was pain and anguish on the faces of her friends - too young to comprehend such a loss - at 12-year-old Michaela Davis's funeral in Dublin last week.

The schoolgirl was killed and her body dumped in long grass on the banks of the Royal Canal on Saturday August 28.

A man has been charged with her murder.

Jonathan Byrne (18) has appeared in court twice and has been remanded in custody at Cloverhill Prison.

The young man was granted free legal aid, but made no comment during his two brief appearances.

Hundreds crammed into the small St Mochta's Church in Porterstown for the schoolgirl's funeral on Thursday last.

As a cuddly toy and an angel were brought to the altar, Fr John Daly, the parish priest, remarked that she was just "12, a little girl".

She had been christened in the church in white, had made her communion there and earlier this year had worn white for her Confirmation.

"I know her Mum and Dad hoped and longed that the next time Michaela came to this church dressed in white it would be for another celebration," he said.

Two rows of students wearing the uniform of Luttlrellstown Community College, where Michaela had attended classes for the first time just days before her murder, formed a guard of honor on either side of the white coffin.

Music at the service was provided by children from her former national school.

Fr Daly appealed for the community to pull together and called for childhood to be protected for as long as possible.

He said Michaela had been eager to grow up, "too eager at times".

"She pushed the boundaries in many ways; she wanted to grow up so much and so quickly."

Our children today are pushed and forced to grow up much quicker than we were; they have to contend with things at a much earlier age than we ever did," he said.

"We need to protect their childhood more than ever, we need to provide the right environment to help them flourish and to fulfil their dreams."

The Davis family has lived in the Porterstown area for 16 years.

They issued a statement describing it as a "heart-wrenching situation".

"The needless loss of a young child, the awful tragedy of a girl barely beginning life - This situation is not and never will be about the crime or the perpetrator - it's about Michaela and the realisation of a parent's worst fear to lose a child so full of life."