Psychiatric patient ‘read book’ prior to drowning

A PSYCHIATRIC patient found dead in a river three days after he disappeared, had appeared calm and quietly read a book on the journey back to the mental health unit where he was being treated.

John Gallagher is believed to have taken his own life after walking out of a pub on the Shannon where he and two nurses had stopped for a break.

The body of the 40-year-old, an artist from Creeslough in Donegal, was discovered on Thursday evening, in the river 100 yards from where he was last seen on Monday.

He and the two nurses, a young staffer and a student, had stopped at the Weir Lodge pub in Roosky, Roscommon, 11 miles from Carrick on Shannon, on the way to the unit in Letterkenny.

An investigation into the circumstances that led to his death has been ordered by the Government. The

Inspector of Mental Hospitals Dr Dermot Walsh will carry out the probe.

Junior Health Minister Tim O’Malley said he asked the inspector to examine the circumstances of the death and make a full report urgently.

Des Kavanagh, of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, said an assessment of each patient is carried out before they are escorted between facilities.

While not pre-empting the outcome of any inquiry, Mr Kavanagh said it was not usual that a student nurse would escort a patient. “We are in an environment of short staffing and pressures on the system,” he said.

The North Western Health Board is also conducting an inquiry. “Obviously this is a traumatic time for the family and everyone involved,” said regional manager John Hayes.

He added: “Every possible support will be offered to help them to come to terms with this tragedy.”

Mr Gallagher, a single man with five sisters who lived with his parents in the north Donegal village, was returning from a hospital appointment in St James’ Dublin when he disappeared. A board spokesman said it was not unusual for patients from the north-west to be treated in Dublin hospitals.

He told his escorts he was going to the toilet but slipped out a side door. When he did not return, they searched the area, then alerted gardaí.

As the Donegal’s man family was told of his disappearance, sub aqua units from Longford and Lough Rea were alerted. The body was eventually found early on Thursday evening, on the far side of the river from the pub.

The two nurses, in their initial report, said Mr Gallagher showed no signs of agitation on the journey. He read a book for most of the journey, they told local gardaí.

A neighbour of the dead man said Mr Gallagher only periodically showed signs of his illness. The neighbour, who did want to be named, said the 40-year-old was an artist.