In praise of: Joe Sheehan

Last weekend in Dublin a 20-year-old man from Nebraska by the name of Joe Sheehan found himself at the heart of a story that simultaneously exemplified the best and the worst of Ireland.

Sheehan took the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, arriving early last Saturday morning. He made his way into the city centre, stopped off at an ATM to get some cash for a night in his ancestral homeland and was strolling across O’Connell Bridge when he heard the cries of a man in watery distress.

He looked into the river and saw a tired and emotional night swimmer being pulled away by the current. “His head started to go under, so I ran around to the side and took everything out of my pockets, took my trousers and shirt off,” Sheehan said earlier this week.

A trained lifeguard, he pulled the drowning man to safety, but when he went back to get his belongings, they were gone.

Standing on the street, in sopping clothes, with no money, nowhere to stay and no phone, he was bereft and cursing the most mean-spirited of thieves. But not for long. He was taken into the care of three Irish people – Hugh, Cathal and Katie – who fed him, gave him enough beer to dull the pain of the thievery, and ensured he had a place to crash that night.

Meanwhile, his mates back home set up a fund to replace the stolen money, Vodafone replaced his phone and RTÉ invited him to appear on tonight's Saturday with Miriam.

And the man he saved will be alive to watch it, which would not be the case had Joe not crossed the river when he did. CONOR POPE