'There will never again be Christmas in our home': Matt O'Neill's father on heartbreak at loss of only child

Matt O'Neill's father told court his son had saved a man from drowning at age 13 and had saved three more lives with the donation of his organs

Matt O'Neill: Parents Pat and Eileen O’Neill were at the Central Criminal Court in Cork as Pat O’Neill delivered their highly personal evidence on the impact of 'a mindless, senseless cowardly act' that had robbed them of their only child.

The family of the Carrigaline manslaughter victim are haunted by the loneliness and fear he must have felt after being attacked near his home and they are heartbroken at how he struggled to survive after the life support machine was turned off — living on for 29 minutes — one minute for each year of his life.

Parents Pat and Eileen O’Neill were at the Central Criminal Court in Cork as Pat O’Neill delivered their highly personal evidence on the impact of “a mindless, senseless cowardly act” that had robbed them of their only child.