Holiday couple unaware of carnage
Yesterday, Alan Farrelly, 26, rang his frantic parents in Bantry, Co Cork, with the news that he and his girlfriend, Julie O’Sullivan, were safe.
Mr Farrelly sent an e-mail home last Thursday saying that he planned to climb a mountain on a nearby island. When there was no further contact after the explosion on Saturday night, the family began to worry. Mr Farrelly’s father said the family had spent the weekend calling his mobile phone and sending text messages.
“I was more worried than my wife. Alan’s a great guy for dancing and I was afraid he’d be in that nightclub,” said Peter Farrelly. But yesterday at 1.30pm, Mr Farrelly called home, still blissfully unaware of what had happened.
“I was dumbfounded that he could stay in a hotel with 50 other people and not find out,” said Peter Farrelly.
Alan Farrelly runs The Galley bar in Clonakilty with Cork footballer Phillip Clifford and Conor Mulcahy. A dislike of Bali sent him mountain climbing, according to Conor Mulcahy: “I talked to him before the weekend and he said Bali was too commercial for him. So he ended up on a different island, completely cut off from civilisation.”
The couple are trying to decide whether to continue their two month stay in Bali.
Meanwhile, the family of a Galway woman injured in the blast flew to Singapore to be at her bedside.
Niamh Holohan, from Loughrea, Co Galway, was in Bali on a two-week holiday with friends. Ms Holohan, an accountant in her mid-twenties, was due to return to Galway tomorrow. Her brother flew to Singapore yesterday. Her mother, Frances, and her twin brother, Brian, are due to fly out today. Her father John said it was a terrible time for the family but they are hopeful she will make a good recovery.
“It’s an awful shock but we’re thank God she’s alive. She has some fractures and some burns and we’re hoping for the best.”
“We had received a call from a friend on Saturday telling us that Niamh and her friends were in the area where the bomb went off and we were very worried all that night. At about 7am on Sunday, we discovered that she was in hospital and alive thankfully. It is not yet known when Niamh will be able to return home.”
