Inquest inaccuracies

I AM Brecan Mooney’s father. The piece covering the inquest into Brecan’s accidental drowning covered by in last Friday’s Examiner has two inaccuracies our family would like to see amended.

Brecan had been working in Cork for three or four years before his death. He lived in the city and, through his environmental work with the White, Young Greene Company had got to know the whole county very well. He loved them both. But he would not thank anyone for referring to him as a Corkman. He was a Clareman out and out and proud of it as anyone who ever heard him deliver a Clare shout would vouch for.

The second inaccuracy is a little more serious. There is a reference to the fact that Brecan “climbed,” over the parapet of the Christy Ring Bridge. There is no evidence whatsoever to this effect. As parents, my wife and myself feel so fortunate in that, due to the meticulous, collating work of the guards and many witnesses, we know most of the circumstances of Brecan’s death The one area that remains a mystery to all of us is just how Brecan finished up on the side of the bridge. One thing is sure there is no evidence to the fact that, “he climbed” over the parapet.The witness who extended the helping hand to Brecan as he tried to make his way back up the radiator-sheer side of the Christy Ring bridge bore out the evidence of the Rescue-team that the night of the 19th of January 2010, was truly horrific, that it was the very turbulence of the water in the river that drew him to the side of the bridge, that he was almost blown over by the strength of the wind and that the height of the parapet was such that, if their hands had actually engaged, it is possible that, through lack of anywhere for his feet to grip, he could easily have fallen in too and Brecan and himself would have both been swept to their death.