Connacht Tribune
Tragic end for tourist visiting for stag party
A man who was visiting Galway as part of a stag party died because he went the wrong way after leaving a city pub, Galway Coroner’s Court heard.
Sam Rowlands (30) had arrived in Galway on Friday, June 16, 2017 for a stag weekend, but died after being hit by a taxi at Bushypark on the N59 Moycullen Road in the early hours of June 18.
Coroner for West Galway Dr Ciarán MacLoughlin heard how Mr Rowlands had been staying in the Victoria Hotel and had been socialising in the city with friends, but “disappeared” from the King’s Head pub at 12.15am on Saturday, June 18.
In CCTV footage shown to a jury at an inquiry into his death, Mr Rowlands was seen exiting the High Street pub before walking in the direction of Cross Street. In the footage, Mr Rowlands was seen to be unsteady on his feet.
Cameras at various locations showed Mr Rowlands as he walked down Mill Street, before heading out Presentation Road and across Newcastle.
The last footage of the 30-year-old was captured by cameras at NUI Galway as he continued to walk out of the city through Dangan – in the direction of the location where he would die after being struck by a taxi driven by Imran Khan.
The inquiry heard from James McGrath, who lives in Galway and knew Mr Rowlands through a relation who lived in Wales, that he joined the stag party at around in the King’s Head at 11pm, by which time, they were “fairly drunk”.
Mr McGrath said he did not see Mr Rowlands leaving, adding “I have no idea what time he left”.
Adrian Richardson told how he had been travelling from his home on the Barna Road, Moycullen, into Galway to collect his wife between 12.45 and 1am when he saw a male at Dangan Nurseries who matched the description of Mr Rowlands.
“He stumbled out on to the road and I had to swerve the car to avoid hitting him,” said Mr Richardson. “On the way home, I saw the same man and he was now on the opposite side of the road, just past the Bushypark Road.”
Mr Richardson’s wife called the Gardaí to alert them of his presence.
That same night, Imran Khan was returning to Galway after dropping a fare off in Corcullen.
Mr Khan described how Mr Rowlands appeared to “jump” from the ditch about 800 metres from the Glenlo Abbey Hotel.
Mr Khan said he was in total shock after the impact. He recalled that he was driving at 50 to 55 km per hour in the 100 km per hour speed zone as there was a bend in the road and he was “in no rush”.
He voluntarily surrendered his phone to Gardaí who, on inspection, found the only call made around the time of the collision was to the emergency services at 1.28am.
“I swear to God, he was not on the road,” said Mr Khan, in response to questioning from the Rowlands family’s solicitor, Brendan Donnelly. “He just appeared from the ditch”.
Qualified nurse Colette Cullinan was driving back to Moycullen from Tuam at the time and was first on the scene.
She described how she, with the help of Liam Carroll who also came on the scene, put Mr Rowlands in the recovery position. She said he was still breathing, but she noticed his head felt soft.
She recalled how the taxi driver was “paralysed” with shock and handed his phone to Mr Carroll to speak to emergency services.
Garda Pat Costello attended the scene and in his evidence to the court, described how Mr Rowlands was being treated by paramedics when he arrived – and that Mr Khan had been sick a number of times while in his presence.
Mr Khan was questioned under caution and informed Garda Costello that a male appeared to jump from the left hand side of the road into his path.
A breath test returned negative for the presence of alcohol and the silver Volkswagen Passat taxi he was driving was seized for technical examination.
Garda Ollie White, a road traffic collision forensic specialist, gave evidence that there was no street lighting nor footpaths where the collision occurred.
Garda White said he was confident the vehicle was travelling at no more than 70 or 80 kilometres per hour.
He said the Volkswagen badge from the front of the saloon car was found approximately 10 metres from the point of impact.
There was indentation on the front grill and the windscreen was shattered, which he said would fit the hypothesis of solicitor Brendan Donnelly that Mr Rowlands was hit by the front of the vehicle and thrown over the windscreen – meaning the first impact was with his lower leg.
Mr Rowlands was brought to UHG where he later died from his injuries.
Consultant Pathologist Dr Mary Casey who carried out a post mortem examination found a laceration to his right leg which she concluded was the “probable site” of initial impact – and that Mr Rowland had suffered significant fracturing of the skull.
The jury found, in accordance with the medical evidence, that the cause of death was a fracture at the base of the skull, with subsequent brain-stem death sustained in a road traffic collision.
The Coroner Dr MacLoughlin extended his sincere sympathy to Mr Rowlands’ wife Lowri, his son Joseph, mother and father Margo and Alun, and his brothers Adam and Ben.
“What should have been a weekend of celebration and fun turned out, for the Rowlands family to be a very tragic and unfortunate event,” said Dr MacLoughlin.
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.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
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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