A YOUNG West Belfast man who tragically died in a motorbike accident was “always laughing” and “always joking” mourners have heard.
Ruairi Savage died in a one vehicle collision on Divis Street on 7 July.
A car enthusiast and mechanic by trade, he was known to many for his repair work on the iconic Belfast black taxis.
Mourners lined the Falls Road on Saturday where friends put on a motoring display.
During requiem mass at St Paul’s Church, mourners shared moments of laughter as Fr Anthony Devlin recounted some stories from Ruairi’s life.
Fr Devlin said Ruairi was “always the messer, always laughing, always joking”, and joked that he “was not the brightest light on the dashboard”.
“When I hear the stories of his life, I hear how brilliant a free-runner he was,” he said.
“Absolutely brilliant until that moment he tried it out in school, fell, broke his wrist, and needed to have pins in his arms,” he said.
He told how Ruairi and his friends once went “the whole way to Newcastle to go camping and they forgot their tent”.
“St Peter, you’ve got your work cut out for you whenever you’re talking about our Ruairi today,” he said.
Fr Devlin described Ruairi as “his mummy’s melter and his daddy’s golden child”.
“This is how we think of him and this is how we know,” he stated.
“There wasn’t a moment in the house when it was nice and calm. There was always a bluster.”
Speaking of Ruairi’s love of cars and talents as a mechanic, Fr Devlin said: “If St Peter has any aul bangers that are hanging around, Ruairi will work on them, and Ruairi will get them done and get them sorted out, especially if there’s any aul classics.
“He loved the cars – that’s how he got the name Ruairi Vauxhall. He loved the cars, he loved the mechanics, he loved getting them going, he loved the sounds and he loved the noises he could make with them. So, Peter, if you’re in trouble with an aul banger he’ll sort it out for you today.”
