Organisers of a St Patrick’s Day parade which had a float depicting an incident in which a dead pensioner was brought to a post office allegedly in an attempt to secure his pension, have apologised for having “acted in a tone deaf” manner.
Peadar Doyle, 66, from Pollerton, Co Carlow passed died January 21st, and gardaí believe the pensioner was already dead when he was taken into his nearby post office in Carlow although a postmortem has determined there was no foul play in his death.
A man has been charged with two counts of deception in relation to the incident and gardaí are continuing with their investigations.
Mr Doyle’s family and various friends had condemned the fact that two St Patrick’s day parades then featured portrayals of the post office incident apparently purporting to be humorous in nature.
It has subsequently emerged that the organisers of a third parade, in Ardara, Co Donegal had two entries depicting the same event. A video of these has been taken down from their Facebook page following complaints.
Organisers of the Kilfenora parade have now publicly apologised. Those overseeing the Belmullet Festival, Co Mayo parade who awarded a prize for a similar entry have yet to issue a statement.
Speaking on Clare FM’s Morning Focus with Alan Morrissey, Orla Vaughan, one of the organisers of the Kilfenora event said they “really, really, really apologise” to Mr Doyle’s family especially to his sister Noeleen and that what was allowed to occur was “tone deaf of us”.
Ms Vaughan said: “It’s never good to apologise retrospectively over the hurt that’s been caused and the difficult times the family have and are going through.
She said they have written to the Doyle family apologising and in the 25 years of running the parade this is the first time that “upset” has been caused.
Ms Vaughan added there was no criteria for entry but that a vetting process for future parades would be put in place.