Gardaí to interview women who witnessed Galway tragedy 

Family friends of the victims John Paul Maughan, his wife Una, and daughter Martina pay respect at the scene at Menlo Pier in Galway city.

Gardaí are to interview a number of young women who witnessed a tragic accident which claimed the lives of three teenagers in Galway over the weekend.

John Keenan, aged 16, Wojcieck Panek, 17, and Christy Stokes, 19, died after their car entered the River Corrib at Menlo Pier in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The girls were in a second car and are understood to have seen the other car flip into the water, which is about 4ft deep.

It is not immediately clear if the driver of the car was trying to do a u-turn on the pier at a sharp bend that leads down to the end of the pier.

It is understood that it was the young women who alerted the emergency services. The three young men who were trapped in the car were removed from the water by gardaí who frantically tried to save their lives.

They were then taken to University Hospital Galway (UHG) where two of them passed away.

The third was in hospital in critical condition but died a number of hours later.

The Olympic Boxing Club Galway, of which John was a member since he was 10 years old, said it was “with deep pain, heartbreak and sorrow” that they learned of his “untimely and tragic” death.

John had always had a big smile on his face and would go out of his way to do anything for anyone, he never let anything get him down.

“Our sincerest and heartfelt condolences goes out to John’s brother Martin, his mother Elizabeth and his brothers and sisters.” 

Galway city councillor Frank Fahy, whose family has lived in the village of Menlo for generations, said the incident was a “horrible tragedy”.

He said: “I was born and reared in the village, we’ve never had an incident like that before.

“It is a safe pier which people use all the time, for mooring their boats and for feeding the ducks.

“I wish to express my heart-felt sympathies to the families and friends of these three men.

“Everyone is still incredibly shocked at what happened.

“The scene at Menlo Pier was last night still being preserved for technical examination by Forensic Collision Investigators.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who has information that can assist with this investigation to contact Gaillimh Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.