This article is from page 3 of the 2006-04-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A 56-YEAR-OLD man was last night (Monday) fighting for his life in hospital, after being found lying unconscious on a pavement in Lisdoonvara in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Gardai are at a loss as to what happened to Jim Kearney and say they are not ruling anything in or out at this stage.
Mr Kearney, who lives locally at Rooska, was found with severe head injuries at Kincora Road, close to the Square in the town, at around 2am.
He was seen leaving a pub in the town just 10 minutes earlier, having been socialising for the evening, and is understood to have been on his way home at the time.
A passer-by noticed him lying on the pavement close to Burke’s garage and notified gardaí.
He was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, before being moved to Limerick. He was later transferred to hospital in Cork, where he underwent emergency surgery and was still in a critical condition there, at time of going to press last evening.
Gardaí say they have no evidence to suggest any suspicious activity took place, but are keeping an open mind.
“We are not ruling anything in or out. We have to find out what caused the injuries,” said a garda spokesman.
“One of the head injuries is consistent with a fall, but we have not ascertained what caused the other injuries,” he added.
A number of people who were socialising with the man have been interviewed and house-to-house enquiries were being conducted in Lisdoonvarna yesterday, as gardai tried to piece together what exactly happened. The street where Mr Kearney was found was closed for much of yesterday, while an area close to the garage was cordoned off yesterday morning.
Mr Kearney, a native of Wexford, has worked as a chef in various north Clare restaurants for more than 10 years and is well-known in Lisdoonvarna.
“We want to speak to anyone who was in his company during the night,” added the spokesman.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Ennistymon Garda Station on 065 7071020.