Mayo woman did not get abusive messages over asylum seekers, inquest rules
The inquest was heard last Thursday at Ballina Courthouse.
A North Mayo woman did not receive abusive messages about her role in the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers in the days before her sudden death, an inquest has determined.
The body of Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Keane, aged 50, of the Old Deanery Cottages, Killala was found in the water near Killala Pier on April 6, 2023, by a local angler. An inquest into her death was heard at Ballina Courthouse last Thursday.
The inquest heard that Ms Keane had been the owner of the Old Deanery Cottages, a self-catering accommodation provider in Killala, until its sale to Mark Devaney, a hotelier, in March 2023.
Mr Devaney was not present at the inquest but provided a statement. He told the inquest that he had met with Ms Keane on several occasions and she was aware that the Cottages were to be used to house families who arrived in Ireland as International Protection Applicants (IPAS). It was agreed that Ms Keane would remain involved with the Cottages and help to run the IPAS facility.
Mr Devaney said he received a call from Ms Keane on April 1, 2023, in which she expressed anxiety over her role. Some 50 IPAS applicants had arrived at the Cottages in the previous days. Mr Devaney told her his colleague, Shane Scott - whom he described as "a hospitality consultant" - would be there to help her run the facility. Witness said Ms Keane was "reassured" by this.
Mr Scott, who attended the inquest, said Ms Keane told him there had been an incident on April 4 where four individuals walked through the Cottages site. She asked them to leave and they left, but only went as far as across the road from the Cottages.
Mr Scott said there had been no direct hostility regarding the IPAS residents at the Old Deanery Cottages but reports appeared in the local media about the change of use of the facility. Mr Scott said he last spoke with Ms Keane on Wednesday, April 5, over the phone and was "incredibly shocked and upset" to hear of her death.
Her body was recovered from the water in Killala on Thursday, April 6, after it was discovered by a local fisherman. Ms Keane’s GP Dr Joe Gilvarry pronounced her death.
Dr Gilvarry told the inquest that Ms Keane was not only a patient, but a close friend. He said she had never presented with any signs of self-harm or suicidal inclinations. Her death came "totally out of the blue".
Sgt Jonathan Petrie carried out an analysis of Ms Keane’s phone. There were no phone calls, messages, images or videos that intimated a threat towards Ms Keane on the device. CCTV footage from the area showed Ms Keane walking past the Killala Coastguard building and towards the pier on the morning of April 6.
Dr Fedal Bennani, consultant pathologist, said his colleague Dr Tamas Nemeth carried out a post-mortem which found that the deceased's lungs were heavier than normal due to an influx of water. A blood analysis found no trace of alcohol and there were normal amounts of a prescribed medication. Dr Bennani said Ms Keane had died of asphyxiation due to drowning.
Coronor Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald said this was a complex case of a young woman who had recently gone through a change in life from owning the Cottages to having sold them and beginning work as a facility manager. Dr Fitzgerald said there had been rumours circulating that Ms Keane had received abusive messages regarding the sale of the Cottages for use by IPAS families but the evidence showed there were no such messages.
Giving a narrative verdict, she said there was no evidence that Ms Keane had been pushed in, nor was there evidence to suggest she had ended her own life and it was possible that she had slipped into the water. She said the facts of what had happened is that Ms Keane had walked down by the pier at around 8am and her body was recovered at around 11am.
Dr Fitzgerald offered her sympathies to Ms Keane’s family and friends on her sudden passing.
