Waterford memories - Were you there?

I worked with him in the glass factory on summer work at the time of the murder... I was with him the next night in the bridge Hotel at the disco with a few more lads and I remember saying to him wasn't it terrible what happened that young boy yesterday... and he agreed with me nodding his head.. little did I know.. I thought someone said to me he was living in the UK after he got out... he was a strange person that's all I can say about him..

the night of the murder he went to the park inn (or whatever it was known as back then) and joined people he worked with for a few drinks. A woman I knew was at the same table as him and I think she might have had to give evidence in court.

Another pal of mine’s father was fixing the roof of their shed in their garden and was up on a ladder, the guy walked past him down below the back wall of the garden in Hillview and up the laneway towards where it happened. He did give evidence in court as I think the murder happened very shortly after that interaction and I think he was one of the last people to see the murderer before he did it.

A horrible case and strikingly similar to the awful events in Tullamore this week.

I mean similar in terms of the shock factor of it. Waterford, up to then, was a safe place but that murder changed an awful lot for the city.

That's shocking! I have no idea who he is but it's something which has always stuck in my head. Waterford is a small place. I remember my mother saying she knew him too. Poor kid, I don't think I was much older than him at the time.

Its hard to comprehend when someone in the community commits a horrible crime. It gives me the creeps knowing that there are some seemingly 'normal' people living amongst us going about their business with an ulterior motive or a warped sense of reality. What I would say is that there is huge psychological pressure point in the modern world and much of it revolves around technology [social media, internet, porn/darkweb etc] which gives some people unreasonable wants, thoughts or desires. Irish society has also been revolutionised over the past couple of decades socially. There's also a hell of a lot more illegal drugs in the atmosphere. The sense of community dampened. Its a more multi cultural place too. I have witnessed a few guys (clearly mentally ill) talking to themselves in the middle of the day walking down the Quay and trying to hop on a bus for free with not a word of English. Its like something you might see in a gritty movie based in New York. I know that some of the Irish who were not entirely Saints when they emigrated either. Yes there's always bad apples. But the problem would have been "sorted" in a different way back then. Im not one to look back through those green tinted spectacles longing for the olden days. There was seriously problems hidden from sight beneath the surface of Irish society for a long time. But it was a much safer place to live. Yes, there was the local head-da-balls but most weekends, weather permitting, you could walk home without fear of being hopped on. Violence is all too commonplace now. The Gardai are barely keeping a lid on it. Mostly they'd prefer not to get involved if they can. Unless you have a dash cam to make it easier for them!!

Was told that when he got out his father brought him to the park inn pub for a drink which was his local and was told by the customers in there to get him out,dont know where he is now or even what he looks like, says a lot about his dad that he thought it would be ok to bring him there.

Yep i was there,the 2 lads stuck in their van 😀