‘No other person should die like Josef’
Mr Pavelka, 52, came to national attention when it emerged he and a friend had been living in a public toilet in the Co Clare town. His body was found in the town on Saturday night.
Fr Ger Fitzgerald, said: “Could we have done more? I can only speak for myself in that sense and say, perhaps, but I believe it is more important to mourn the passing of a gentle human being and look to the future to ensure that it does not happen again.”
It is understood that gardaí have, through Interpol, made contact with Mr Pavelka’s 28-year-old daughter in Czech Republic. The two are not believed to have been in touch for a decade.
Yesterday, Mr Pavelka’s name appeared on a court list for Ennis District Court today where he was due to appear in connection with a fresh public order charge.
Another priest, Fr Tom Hogan, said yesterday that a funeral Mass will be held for Mr Pavelka in the coming days while a vigil will be staged in Ennis tomorrow.
Fr Fitzgerald, who has provided support to Mr Pavelka and his best friend, Piotr Baram over the past number of years, remembered Mr Pavelka as a man who had “a heart of gold”.
“I think Josef’s death is very sad. I will miss him greatly as will a lot of people. I understand, of course, that it was easy just to see Josef as an alcoholic who walked around begging, but I think this misses a very important point.
“I knew him around the cathedral and he would always be willing to help out with anything I asked him to do. He had a great hearty laugh, a good sense of fun and a heart of gold. He was a man of great faith and always spoke of his love of Mary.”
When asked was enough done to help Mr Pavelka, Fr Hogan commented: “I don’t think there was anything more that could have been done for Josef.”
Fr Hogan said a couple of people said they saw Mr Pavelka sitting on a wall on O’Connell St “very drunk” at 9.30pm on Saturday. His body was found nearby about two hours later.
Fr Hogan said that it was important that Mr Baram got treatment for his alcohol addiction “otherwise he will be going in the same direction as Josef”.
Yesterday, Mr Baram, 35, called to Fr Hogan to tell him of his intention to seek out a B&B for accommodation after an elderly woman came up to him on the street to give him €50, a coffee, food and tobacco.
“I never saw this woman before in my life. This is why I came back to Ennis from Galway; this is very good.”
On Monday night, Mr Baram slept in the back seat of a friend’s car in Ennis.
Mr Pavelka had lived at the St Vincent de Paul-run Laurel Lodge for over two years. Centre manager Pat Cahill declined to comment on the support provided to Josef and the circumstances of his death as “it wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about an individual case”.
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