Bank official took his life after branch transfer

A SENIOR Bank of Ireland official took his own life shortly after he was transferred to another bank branch against his wishes, an inquest in Dublin heard yesterday.

Bernard “Barney” O’Kane, a 49-year-old father of three from Wesley Heights, Sandyford, Co Dublin, was found hanging from a rope passed through the attic door in his family home on July 8, 2006.

His wife, Lenore, told Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday that she became nervous after returning home at 1.05pm that day to find “a short farewell note” from him on the kitchen table. When she rushed upstairs, she found her husband hanging out of the attic trapdoor with a noose around his neck.