The family of a Dublin man in his 20s who drowned in the Liffey last June yesterday criticised sections of the media that had printed pictures of his body in the water before relatives were notified. During an inquest into the death at Dublin City Coroner's Court his brother asked the coroner if the hearing was public. "We don't want anything published. His photo was in the newspapers before we knew of his death. We don't want them involved," he said. A female relative said the dead man's aunt had recognised him from the photograph. "She came round to us but she was unable to tell us what had happened and then the gardai called," she said.
The coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, told the family the hearing was public and that he could not tell the reporters present what to do. Ms Annette Maguire said she was crossing the Liffey on June 23rd last when she saw a young man sitting on the bridge. "He seemed down in himself. He asked me for a cigarette and I gave him one. He didn't light it. I talked to him and he asked me for a light. As I turned to get him a light he jumped in the river," she said. Ms Maguire added that she heard the man calling for help. Another man, Mr Barry Roche, jumped in the river and tried to help him, but had to be rescued himself.
Speaking directly to the family of the deceased, Mr Roche said at the inquest that from his experience in the water the young man did not intend to kill himself. Garda Barry O'Shea said the body was recovered from the river at Ormond Quay Upper about 5 p.m. and the man was pronounced dead at the City Morgue at 7 p.m. A post-mortem examination showed that death was due to drowning, and a toxicology report showed the presence of benzodiazophines, methadone and cannabis in the body. The coroner returned an open verdict.