THE BISHOP of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, says he is saddened by the death of a heroin user who injected himself with a fatal overdose of heroin in the St Peter and Paul Cathedral in Ennis a year ago.
At an inquest in Ennis last week, a jury heard how a local priest came to the aid of John Maughan (36), Stone Court, Drumbiggle, Ennis, in the cathedral after he collapsed in a back room on May 25th last year.
Now in Ecuador doing pastoral work, Fr John Molloy said in a phone interview yesterday: “It was very, very sad and my heart goes out to the family.”
County coroner Isobel O’Dea recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
Dr Walsh said yesterday: “I am saddened that someone would take drugs inside the church, but that is not the principal issue. The whole thing is very tragic for all involved.”
He added: “I feel angry towards the people who supplied the drugs to the man and exploited him.”
He pointed out that the cathedral was a public place and a place of refuge.
In his deposition at the inquest last week, a friend of Mr Maughan told gardaí how Mr Maughan had bought four bags of heroin for €100 on Ennis’s O’Connell Street at 12.30pm and the two – along with the man from whom they purchased the heroin – went to a room at the back of the cathedral.
Mr Maughan’s friend said he told him to smoke the heroin rather than inject it, as he had been drinking and had taken sleeping pills.
He said the third man put the needle into Mr Maughan’s arm to inject the heroin. He said he smoked heroin with the third man, but he saw Mr Maughan’s eyes start to flicker before he slouched down on the bench.
In his postmortem, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis found the combined effects of heroin, Valium and alcohol in Mr Maughan’s system would have caused coma, inability to breathe and death.
