Connacht Tribune
Kinvara Pier death ‘a terribly unfortunate accident’
A retired priest who lost his life after driving off the pier in Kinvara last October died in what appeared to be a ‘terribly unfortunate accident’, an inquest was told this week.
The inquiry at Galway Coroner’s Court heard that Fr Anthony Minniter had attended 7pm Mass in St Joseph’s Church, Kinvara, on the evening of October 31, 2019.
Sometime before 8pm, witnesses walking alongside the green in the village noticed a silver car passed them – it would later become apparent that this had been Fr Minniter’s silver Ford Focus.
Witness James Dorrian said his house was adjacent to the Pier Head Bar and Restaurant and at around 8pm, he was alerted by a woman on the pier that there was a car in the water. Looking out, he said he could see a car around 15 to 20 metres away from the pier.
Mr Dorrian, along with a young woman who was at the scene, took control of a small row boat and made their way out to the car. He said the car had been brought out by the current.
Local mussel farmer David Krause said just before 8pm, he had received a phone call to say there was a car in the water. Using his fishing vessel, he and a colleague managed to get a rope around the wishbone of the car and pull it out of the water.
When they got to ground, they broke the passenger window where, as Mr Krause described, they found the single occupant, Fr Minniter, in the driver seat with his seat belt fastened.
Advanced Paramedic Emmet Forkan gave evidence that upon arriving at the scene, they found Fr Minniter had a viable heart rhythm, but was hypothermic. He was transported to UHG and CPR was administered.
Witness Angela Connolly, with whom Fr Minniter was staying, said he had suffered from moderate dementia for which he took a small amount of medication, but that he had been totally independent and cooked for himself each day. On the night of the accident, she said Fr Minniter had left a note to tell her he had gone to Mass.
When he hadn’t returned at 8.15pm, Ms Connolly became concerned and decided to go out to look for him. Having checked the church to see if his car was there, Ms Connolly said she became aware that a car had entered the water and went down check if it was Fr Minniter. When it became clear it was, she followed the ambulance to UHG.
Attempts to save Fr Minniter failed and he died at UHG in the early hours of November 1.
An inspection of Fr Minniter’s car found electrical damage as a result of being submerged in seawater, but concluded that the vehicle “appeared to have been in serviceable condition prior to impact”.
A post mortem concluded that Fr Minniter had not been under the influence of any substances when the accident took place.
The Coroner, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin said it was likely Fr Minniter had failed to take a necessary turn and concluded that the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning, returning a verdict of accidental death.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
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