This article is from page 14 of the 2009-11-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A MAN rang his sister to say “good- bye” moments before jumping to his death from the Cliffs of Moher, a court has heard.
The detail emerged yesterday at the inquest into the death in June of a 47- year-old taxi driver from Clare. The Coroner’s Court in Ennis heard that the man also rang a close friend to say that he was going to “end it all now’.
The court heard that following a short search the man was pronounced dead after his body was brought ashore at Doolin.
The deceased’s sister told the court that when her brother rang, he told her he was standing on the Cliffs of
Moher. The woman told him not to do anything.
She told the court that her brother ended the call by saying “goodbye”.
The inquest heard from a family friend who received a call from the man to say he was standing on the cliffs and that he was going to “end it all now”.
The inquest heard that the friend immediately contacted the emergen- cy services.
Michael Hayes, a ranger at the Cliffs of Moher, told the inquest that on the day in question, he saw a man holding a phone, walk towards the viewing area at the cliffs. “I heard him saying ‘it’s not your fault’,’ Mr BEAT NCE
Mr Hayes stated that he saw the
man jump and that there had been no time and no way to prevent him from eCeyunhcanrey
Bernard Lucas, member of the Doolin Branch of the Irish Coast Guard, told the court that the man’s body was recovered from an area of eround “well above the shore” at the base of the cliffs.
Garda Mervyn Forde told the court that he had received a call about a “possible suicide” at the Cliffs of Moher on June 24.
After meeting with rescue services and contacting a local priest, Garda Forde stated that the man was pro- nounced dead at the Doolin Rescue Soins
A post-mortem report prepared by pathologist Dr Elizabeth Mulcahy found that death was due to multiple traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from a height.
County Coroner Isobel O’Dea told the court that the cause of death was multiple injuries consistent with a fall from a height.
Ms O’Dea expressed her sympathy to the man’s family and his “wide circle of friends” and also praised the work done by the Doolin branch of the Irish Coast Guard.
Inspector Michael Gallagher ex- tended his sympathy to the man’s family, adding that the deceased was “well known and will be sadly missed”’.