A teenage boy allegedly assaulted at his school in Northern Ireland this week has died after his life support machine was switched off on Thursday.
Oisin McGrath, aged 13, had been in intensive care since the incident during a lunchtime break on Monday at St Michael’s College, in Enniskillen. He had been hurt during a football game at the County Fermanagh Catholic grammar school.
Peter Robinson, the first minister, tweeted: “Young Oisin McGrath’s death is heartbreaking. I’ll be praying for his family and all those devastated by this sad news tonight.”
A 17-year-old boy, a sixth former at the college, was detained following the incident. He was later released on bail pending charges, police said.
Father Seamus Quinn, a parish priest who had been at Oisin’s bedside at Belfast Royal Victoria hospital, said the boy’s mother had told him that the life support system was gradually being withdrawn from her son.
“People were shocked when they heard that there were no signs of life and the support would be gradually removed,” Quinn said. The priest said the boy and his family were well loved and respected in their native village of Belcoo, close to the border with the Irish Republic.
“They are solid, salt of the earth people, faith-based people, Christian people,” the priest said, adding that Oisin, a keen Gaelic footballer, was “a very well-grounded and well-rounded young [teenager] … he was a happy and helpful, genuinely helpful, intelligent young fellow”.
