The heartbroken children of murder victim Lisa Thompson were told their mother “will always be with you” during her funeral today.
Family and friends of tragic Ms Thompson, 52, gathered at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ballymun, North Dublin this morning where parish priest Fr Declan Burke asked why so many violent deaths were occurring.
“We should not be here today, because Ms Thompson’s tragic and violent death shocked her family and also the wider community.
Read More: Gardai closing in on killer of Lisa Thompson as funeral of mum-of-two to take place
“As we all know, human life is precious. Human life is sacred. And the taking of any human life is very, very wrong.
“And we, as a society, need to stop and ask ourselves why are we hearing of so many violent deaths?,” he told the congregation.
“There was even another violent death last night. So what’s going wrong?” he added.
During the ceremony an iPod and a picture of Ms Thompson were brought to the altar to represent symbols of her life.
The mother-of-two was discovered with stab wounds at her home in Sandyhill Gardens on May 10 - and to date no one has been arrested over the killing.
During the funeral ceremony, Fr Burke addressed Ms Thompson’s two young children directly and said their mother will always be with them.
“The last few weeks have been so difficult for you. It’s a very, very difficult time. But you showed your inner strength, how strong the two of you are.
“And all of us are really, really proud of you. Your mam will always be with you, watching down on you, and she will always be very, very close,” he said.
Fr Burke told mourners how Ms Thompson grew up in Ballymun and went to St. Joseph’s primary school and then on to the local comprehensive school.
“Growing up she was always a friendly, caring person who had dreams for her future. She always wanted to be a legal secretary. Lisa did believe in fairness and justice, she was that type of person. And Lisa, at a fairly young age was planning to get married to her fiancée Michael, but he died from illness just a few months before and Lisa never got over that either,” he said.
“Lisa worked in the youth services for some time. She worked in the whole administration area, and she enjoyed her work there,” he said.
After the funeral mass Ms Thompson’s remains were removed to be laid to rest.
Last week, a man who handed Ms Thompson’s ID into a station made contact with gardai following an appeal.
It is understood gardai are closing in on the killer.
Sources told The Star that gardai have now gathered a significant amount of forensics and CCTV evidence that they believe will help nail the man who stabbed the mum of two to death in a frenzied attack in her own home.
“There has been significant progress, and the (investigation) team now has a good picture of what happened,” a source said.
Although her remains were discovered on Tuesday, May, 10 gardai suspect the vicious murder took place three days earlier on the Saturday.
The Star established that gardai have harvested hundreds of hours of CCTV in the hunt for her killer – and it’s understood the footage will be crucial in catching her killer.
Gardai also recovered forensic evidence from the murder scene – and have downloaded all the data from her mobile phone, which has aliso yielded key evidence.
News of the progress in the probe comes just days after it was revealed that a small time drugs gang used the victim’s home as a store for their stash before her murder.
Investigators believe the gang knew Ms Thompson was vulnerable – and got her to hold tablets in her north Dublin home.
It’s understood gardai probing the murder of the mum of two in her home in Ballymun also discovered a significant amount of tablets at the property – which they believe belonged to the gang.
Sources say investigators believe her death is now linked to members of that drugs gang.
And officers are also satisfied Ms Thompson knew her killer - and it was not a stranger murder carried out by an intruder.
Although no suspect has emerged, it is understood a man and a woman who had dealings with Ms Thompson are the focus of the investigation.
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