News
Murdered brother’s final hours relived at inquest
A jury at the recent inquest of a County Galway man whose body was found in a quarry pond submerged under stones near the Cliffs of Moher has returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence into his death.
The inquest was held into the death of Adrian Folan at Clare’s Coroner’s Court.
The late Adrian Folan.
Last April, Declan Ó Cualáin was found not guilty of murdering his brother, the deceased, by reason of insanity.
Mr Folan, who was 41 at the time of his death, was from Carraroe but had been living in Auburn Close, Athlone, where he was studying for a Masters degree.
In a deposition read to the court Stephen Ellis who was a roommate of Mr Folan at Auburn Close outlined that he had lived with him since September 2013 when Mr Folan had moved in.
He explained that on July 3, 2014 he had received a missed call from Mr Folan at 2.57pm and texted him back to say he was sorry to have missed it, but he got no response. He said there was nothing out of the ordinary with this.
Later that night at 10.18pm Mr Folan called Mr Ellis again and explained that he had a problem with a college project but it was ok now. He then asked if it was ok for his brother, Declan, to stay over in the house on the sitting room couch.
He said the next time he talked to Mr Folan was 11pm when he arrived into the house with his brother Declan. He explained that Declan went upstairs and Mr Folan told him that his brother had suffered a breakdown and was being treated with lithium.
Mr Ellis said “I was trying to include Declan, but he was not interested in our conversation. He asked where the garden was and I pointed it is out there, and then he asked again as if I didn’t answer him”.
He said Declan went out into the garden and he didn’t know if he took a call or went to smoke a cigarette but he came back a few minutes later and his phone rang.
Mr Ellis said he didn’t hear the full conversation but he heard the end of it, where he said, “who do I ask for” and the response was “Jesus Christ”.
When he asked him if that was what was said, Declan said “no” and he replied “I heard that”.
Declan then told them he had left his wallet in a local pub and that he wanted to go and get it. He had his Citroen Berlingo van with him and Mr Ellis said that Mr Folan went with Declan in the van and told him “I’ll be back in a bit”.
Mr Ellis told the inquest that he didn’t see them drive off but he believed they left at 11.30pm at the earliest.
He said he got up early the next morning for work and left at 7.50am. At 11.38am Mr Ellis said he got a call to say that Mr Folan hadn’t come to college and he said this was unlike him because he knew he had a project due that day.
He went back to the house and felt his roommate had not returned home, he then reported him missing to Gardaí as it was “uncharacteristic” of him to go out late drinking.
He went to Dermot Hughes’ Bar to inquire about the wallet Declan said he lost and he said he was told no one had handed in a wallet, and no one had called in about a missing wallet. He was also told there was “no aggro” in the bar that night.
Mr Ellis said he later heard that Declan had gone home and when he had heard this “he got a bad feeling”.
He got a number for Mrs Folan and asked if there had been any news on Mr Folan. He also spoke to his sister, Yvonne, who told him that Declan had gone to Athlone to confront his brother, the deceased.
Mr Ellis said he heard nothing more until July 7, when Declan had confessed to killing his brother.
Garda Superintendent Martin McGonnell read out the deposition of Garda Chris White of Miltown Malbay Garda Station who discovered the body of Mr Folan.
In his statement the garda said they had received limited information that a body had been disposed of at a small quarry close to the Cliffs of Moher and that access to this quarry was on a very rough access road.
He was part of a search party that covered a vast area and which was carried out by local Gardaí with assistance from Superintendents attached to Tuam and Galway City Garda Stations.
“I drove to the Cliffs of Moher checking roads that matched this description. I found a quarry and noticed that earth had been moved and he noticed stones had been moved. It was a straight cut quarry so he said “it looked out of place”.
He observed a pile of rocks in a pond and informed his colleagues that he may have found a body. He moved a rock and he could see a purple sock in the muddy water and confirmed by touch that there was a foot in the sock.
The area, which was at Kilconnell Liscannor, was declared a crime scene.
Detective Inspector John Galvin also gave a deposition which was read into the record, where he said Gardaí were informed on July 7, 2014 that Declan Ó Cualáin had admitted he had killed his brother and disposed of his body in a small pond. He said Ó Cualáin was being treated for bipolar disorder, and had been arrested at his home on suspicion of assault causing serious harm to his brother.
Following the discovery, Alan Folan the brother of the deceased, identified Mr Folan to Gardaí.
State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy gave evidence of performing a postmortem examination on the body of Mr Folan and determined that he died as a result of asphyxia due to compression of the neck by ligature strangulation.
She highlighted in her conclusions that sufficient force was applied to render Mr Folan unconscious quickly and she said, “death would have occurred within minutes”. She stressed there was no evidence to suggest that he was alive when he was put into the water.
County Coroner Isobel O’Dea informed the jury that the most appropriate verdict in her opinion was one in accordance with the medical evidence, and following their deliberations this is what the jury returned.
Ms O’Dea extended her deepest sympathies to members of the Folan family, who were present, on their loss, describing Mr Folan as “a bright young man”. She also acknowledged the work of the Gardaí who found Mr Folan so quickly.
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.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
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.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
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
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
