News
Tragic student drowned after night out with friends
The disappearance of a 25-year-old student – which sparked a widespread public appeal for information – ended four days later when a search party located his remains in muddy marshlands off Roscam, an inquiry into his death heard.
Jason McNulty, originally from Swinford, had travelled from Castlebar to Galway City with friends, and ended up at a party in an apartment at the Connacht Hotel in the early hours of Wednesday, February 18.
The Inquest at Galway Courthouse was told that he had been more drunk than normal, but his friends had let him sleep it off on a sofa. They left to find an open shop, but when they returned, Mr McNulty had left – but nobody could say where.
They drove around the city looking for him, and then headed back to Castlebar, hoping that he had found his way back.
His mother reported him missing later that morning and an earnest search began.
He had been captured on the hotel’s CCTV at 6.23am heading in the direction of GMIT, and two women separately reported to Gardaí that they had seen him at the junction with Roscam and the Dublin Road at about 6.30am.
One said that he was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and was waving his arms about, talking to himself.
“I saw the picture of him on Facebook, and it looked like the male I saw,” she told the Inquest.
Gardaí made an appeal through the media, which received both local and national coverage. On the Friday, the hotel grounds, the nearby estates, and the old Corrib Great Southern were searched.
The Civil Defence, search teams from Limerick and Nenagh, and joined Gardaí.
On a very wet Saturday, a large group of volunteers turned up to help, most parties were accompanied by a Garda.
Among them was family friend, Declan Byrne, who had travelled from Mayo on the Saturday to help.
Gardaí had conducted a briefing at the Connacht Hotel, before dividing up the volunteers into search parties, and assigning them different areas.
Mr Byrne was sent to Roscam, where he met a man harvesting seaweed.
“He pointed out an area to us, from his local knowledge,” he said.
“At 12 midday we saw what looked to be an elbow.”
The remains were in a tidal area with heavy mud, 600m from the nearest road, and 15m from the edge of the coastline.
Mr McNulty’s uncle, Vincent O’Connor, was in another search party, and made his way to Roscam to identify the body.
Sgt Paul Duane told the inquiry that the body would not have been visible only for the mud on his elbow had dried and fallen off. Death was pronounced at 2.25pm on February 21.
Consultant Pathologist, Dr Stephanie Curran, found no defensive wounds on the body, and only trivial abrasions.
Blood and urine samples were sent for toxicology examination, and the results came back showing a low level of alcohol in the body, at 75mg per 100ml of blood (the limit for driving is 50mg).
Rigor mortis was present when his body arrived at UHG, and when the post mortem examination was being carried out the following day – generally, this takes 24 hours to come on, and another 24 hours to leave the body.
Assistant Coroner for West Galway, Ciaran MacLoughlin Jnr, returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence that death occurred on February 21 at Roscam, and was due to asphyxia, secondary to immersion in water.
He expressed his condolences to the McNulty family on their terrible loss in such tragic circumstances.
He also thanked the witnesses who had come forward to help piece together his last movements.
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
