MOTHER OF ECSTASY VICTIM HAD WARNED DAUGHTER OF DANGERS

THE mother of a schoolgirl who died after taking ecstasy has
described how they often discussed the dangers of taking drugs.

Tricia McVeigh and her husband Stephen initially refused to allow
Aishling (15), their second child, to go to Co Donegal with a group
of other teenagers for a July break last year.

The lively teenager from west Belfast was brimming with excitement at
being away for a week on her own.

"It was a running battle from about early May when her friend asked
her to go," Mrs McVeigh recalled yesterday in her living room,
surrounded with pictures of the teen.

"The answer was no, that she wasn't going, she's already been in
Ballycastle with her friend and her friend's mother.

"But Ash was very hard to say no to. She would wear you down and
eventually she got her daddy on her side.

"Even her form teacher said she was a very hard girl to be cross
with. If she was being shouted at, she would have said 'Aww, Miss'.

"Instead of being scolded for being late, she would have ended up
chatting to her teacher for ages."

Aishling was a popular girl who loved animals and was full of plans
for the future, her mother said.

"She talked to me about everything. We were very close that way.

"Aishling wanted to be a vet, and then she went and visited the zoo
and decided she wanted to work there."

However, Mrs McVeigh said she had warned Aishling about the dangers of drugs.

"I went on about it all the time," she said.

"We had a conversation about ecstasy and I remember her telling me
that a lot of people she knew would take ecstasy and would talk
non-stop about it afterwards.

"Aisling asked me why I was so against her going to Donegal and I
told her the truth - it was the fear of her being away from home and
taking something.

"When she was at home she would come in at 11pm and we knew the signs
to look for but in Donegal she wouldn't have that.

"Like a typical teenager, she swore blind there would be nobody in
the group taking ecstasy.

"I foolishly trusted her. I have to live with that for the rest of my life."

The couple planned to visit Aishling the day after they arrived and
see where she was staying but "that was one day too late".

Mrs McVeigh recalled the last time she saw her daughter, full of
anticipation for the days ahead.

"She was jumping up on our bed at 6.30am on Saturday morning to wake
us up so that her daddy could take her to the bus station," she said.

"The thing that excited her most was the thing that killed her in the end."