This article is from page 4 of the 2006-09-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
PLANS to bring the body of Vincent Hehir to its final resting place were postponed at the weekend, after it emerged that a second post mortem examination was to take place.
A post mortem examination took place in Limerick last Friday and his body was due to be returned to his family for burial in Kildysart.
However, a request by one of the three men questioned in connection with the death for an independent post mortem meant that the funeral had to be postponed.
While no charges have been proffered in relation to the death, this request is the legal right of the man in question, through his solicitor.
The second post mortem examination was carried out in Limerick yesterday (Monday) evening, by Belfast Pathologist Dr Carson, and the body was due to be released to the deceased’s family by County Coroner Isobel O’Dea.
Friends of the deceased had travelled from England to Kildysart over the weekend, intending to attend his funeral, before it emerged that the second post mortem procedure was to take place.
The 32-year-old had been due to celebrate his youngest daughter’s christening last weekend.
His two-month-old daughter Margaret was baptised in a private ceremony at his bedside in the Intensive Care Unit at Ennis General Hospital on Thursday morning.
Mr Hehir had agreed to donate his organs after his death. A surgical team from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin travelled to Ennis on Thursday to ascertain the compatibility of his organs.
While many organs were damaged as a result of injuries Mr Hehir sustained in the alleged assault, some were deemed compatible and were rushed under Garda escort to Dublin.
The community in Kildysart has rallied behind Vincent’s distraught family over the past week.
Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen said everybody in Kildysart and surrounding areas was heartbroken.
“There is an air of doom and gloom around Kildysart and surrounding parishes. There have been a number of tragedies in the area over the past number of months,” he said.