The parents of murdered Swiss student Manuela Riedo are to travel to Galway for a fundraising concert in her memory next month.
The event, which is in aid of the Galway Rape Crisis Centre, will take place on Friday October 8, the third anniversary of the 17-year-old’s death.
Arlette and Hans-Peter Riedo have visited the city a couple of times since their only daughter was murdered here within days of arriving in the city to study English. She was walking from her accommodation in Renmore to the city when she was attacked. Gerard Barry from Mervue is serving a life sentence for her murder.
The concert which will take place at the Salthill hotel will include, Trad on the Prom, Mairtin O’Connor, Mary Coughlan, Frank Naughton, Sean Costello and The Mulkerrin Brothers.
The Riedos stress the importance of heightening awareness and providing education about rape and believe this will help protect people from such crimes.
They do not want their daughter’s death to have been in vain. “Without Manuela none of this would be happening,” says Arlette. “We are not doing this for ourselves, it is for her, so she can live on in her own way.”
She says it is difficult to come back to Galway, the scene of her daughter’s death.
“It is hard to return, but it is getting easier because of the friends we have made. We had a wonderful time last year in Galway at the concert, it was a special night.”
Last year’s concert was an overwhelming success with nearly €50,000 raised for the Manuela Riedo Foundation. Galway Rape Crisis Centre benefited from the funds from the event. Aoibheann McCann, the director of the centre, in a recent meeting with representatives from the Manuela Riedo Foundation, outlined details on the teen support groups and school education workshops which it organised this year with the funding.
Tickets for the “Night for Manuela” are on sale from Zhivago Records, the Salthill Hotel, Flanagan Shoes at the Eyre Square Centre, O’Connell’s Bar, the Forster Court Hotel and the customer service desk at the Galway Shopping Centre.
