Farm safety plea at crush hearing

A coroner has made a fresh appeal to farmers on farm safety after hearing how the father of an All-Ireland U-21 hurling winner died in a farm accident last year.

At the Clare coroner’s court yesterday, a jury returned an accidental death verdict in relation to father of five Gerry O’Connell, 56, who died on September 3 when he was crushed while loading cattle from a shed into a trailer.

Ten days after the tragedy, Gerry’s son Gearoid lined out for Clare to beat Wexford in the All-Ireland U-21 final.