A RETIRED carpenter died last November from a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, possibly half a century earlier, while working in Britain, an inquest was told yesterday.
Thomas Queenan (79), Ballina Street, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, died at Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, on November 5th.
He had been unwell for about two weeks before coming into hospital with a cough and loss of appetite.
Dr Cyril Rooney, consultant respiratory physician at Mayo General Hospital, said he had possibly been exposed to asbestos while working in Britain between the ages of 24 and 60.
Dr Rooney said it was clear Mr Queenan suffered from an an asbestos-related condition with a resultant development of mesothelioma, which was the cause of his death.
He explained asbestos may take some time to manifest itself in people who were exposed to it. In the 1950s, Dr Rooney added, there was very little quality control on the material.
The inquest on Mr Queenan was conducted in Castlebar by the coroner for south Mayo, John O’Dwyer, who returned a verdict of death from an industrial disease, absestosis.
The inquest was told that no postmortem had been held on Mr Queenan due to an administrative error.
Following the hearing, Marian Queenan, his daughter, said she hoped companies in the construction industry would now begin to take the asbestos danger more seriously.
It was now emerging that many Irish construction workers, like her father, had been exposed to asbestos in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s and they were now paying with their lives for that exposure.