Mother publishes poetry collection after son dies in attack

Mother publishes poetry collection after son dies in attack

24 February 2021

AN inspirational mum has revealed how she has taken to writing poetry to help cope after her son died following an attack outside a Portaferry pub.

Killyleagh woman Jayne Macrae is set to publish the poems in a book to raise funds for the intensive care unit where he died.

Musician Ryan Macrae was attacked by two men who waited on him as he walked home from a bar in Portaferry in October 2018. The 32 year-old died nine days later from brain injuries in the intensive care unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

Last month two men, aged 21 and 30, were jailed for Ryan’s manslaughter. One was jailed for nine years, the other for eight years.

Within days of her son’s two killers being jailed, Jayne put pen to paper in poetic tribute to her son — and now a commercial sponsor has come on board to help her publish her work as a final tribute to Ryan, while raising much-needed funds for a good cause.

“I still don’t sleep at night and often wake up with nightmares. There will never be justice for Ryan’s death,” she explained.

“I found it cathartic putting pen to paper as a means of dealing with the many emotions I felt after my beloved son’s death and what I have been through.

“At the time I was still struggling with the passing of my father, four months earlier, on the day of my birthday. I was also dealing with my mother being diagnosed with cancer.’’

Cruelly, Jayne had been visiting her daughter Rebecca and three month-old grandson in New Zealand when she received word of what happened to her son.

After her experience, she would like to see a shake-up and strengthening of the powers given to judges.

“Two men were originally charged with murder but in the end pleaded guilty to manslaughter. I have nothing against the judge, he could only pass a sentence for manslaughter, but the judicial system is dire and needs to be reviewed. 

“I say that, not just because of Ryan and what happened to his killers but for all serious crime cases in this country.”

It was Jayne’s poignant poetic tribute to her son — reproduced below — written in the days after the sentencing of his killers last month, that drew such a heart-warming response on Facebook, and following encouragement from the village’s DUP councillor, William Walker, to publish them.

Cllr Walker stepped in and helped line up a commercial sponsor.

Jayne has also written poems about Dumigan’s bar in Portaferry, where Ryan’s guitar is kept on display in the window, and another in tribute to the people of her home village of Killyleagh who have supported her through her ordeal over the past two years.

She hopes that the proceeds from her poetry book can go to the charity REVIVE to help the intensive care unit at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, where her son lost his fight for life.