Farmer who fell through roof during gales is named

An unmarried Co Limerick farmer, killed at the Christmas period when he fell through the roof of an outhouse, was named as Michael…

An unmarried Co Limerick farmer, killed at the Christmas period when he fell through the roof of an outhouse, was named as Michael Quaide, Adare, Co Limerick.

He climbed on to the roof to secure it during gales on Christmas Eve and fell through a sheet of perspex. He was in his mid-50s.

He was pronounced dead at the scene after neighbours discovered the body.

The accident happened between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. A postmortem was carried out.

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Racing resumed at Limerick racecourse in Greenpark on Saturday after the St Stephen's Day cancellation with a huge loss of revenue, according to a course spokesman.

At least 7,000 people were expected on this traditional racing day in Limerick.

Local radio in Co Clare was also affected, with Clare FM off the air for nine hours on Saturday because of a transmitter power failure, which also put RTE radio off the air.

Mr Cormac Mac Connell, news editor at Clare FM, said the power cut caused extensive disruption to programming and irate listeners were phoning asking what was wrong. "We had to re-schedule our programming," he said.

The Bishop's Palace in Ennis was also in the dark during the Christmas period. A tree fell in the grounds of Bishop Walsh's home.

An ESB spokesman said it was expected everybody would have their power back throughout Co Clare last night, but in west Limerick there were still areas where it was felt power would not be restored until tomorrow.