This article is from page 13 of the 2009-04-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
A MAN telephoned an east Clare garda station stating he was going into the Shannon to “end it’, an in- quest into his death has heard.
Ennis Coroner’s Court heard that the body of the 36-year-old unem- ployed man was taken from the water just hours after the telephone call.
The inquest heard that the man telephoned Killaloe Garda Station shortly after midnight last October and identified himself.
‘He said he had enough and his nerves were at him. He had suffered with his nerves for years. There were voices in his head to do good things and bad things,” recalled the garda, last week.
“He said he was going into the Shannon to end it,” he said.
The garda said the man gave him his brother’s mobile phone number. He felt that the caller sounded in- toxicated but he told the garda that he had not drank for more than 10 (era
The garda tried to encourage the man to call to the garda station, but
he said he was going into the river. Asked where exactly he was, he evaded the question and hung up a short time after. The garda tried to call the man back, but the call went directly to his voicemail.
The garda said he directed a patrol car to search for the distressed man. They found clothing and a mobile phone beside a river and the man’s body was taken from the water some hours later by Killaloe/Ballina Search and Rescue.
An autopsy carried out on the man’s body at Limerick Regional Hospital showed there was no alcohol detect- ed in his system. His death had been consistent with drowning.
Clare County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said she was conscious of the fact that the man had telephoned the garda station and said an open ver- dict was appropriate.
She acknowledged the efforts of the garda who had received the phone call at Killaloe garda station that morning.
She also paid tribute to the rescue Services, “who come out in all sorts of weather to carry out searches.”