THE full story of the final hours of a Clifden man who was killed in a tragic accident on his way back home from Galway University Hospital has shocked the local community.

It was an incredible series of fateful events that conspired to leave sixty year old Seanie Flaherty alone on a dark road, 40 miles from home and not knowing how to get there. Mr Flaherty from Tullyvoheen in Clifden died after being knocked down by a car while he was thumbing a lift on the road between Woodstock and Moycullen at 8.20pm last Wednesday evening.

Mr Flaherty, who had severe hearing and speech difficulties and who had rarely been in Galway city before, had earlier being brought to the Hospital by a taxi which had been ordered by a doctor’s surgery in Clifden.

However, it appears that there was no arrangement to have him brought back home and he set out in growing darkness to try and get a lift to take him the 50 miles home to Clifden.

This week family members in Clifden said they were devastated by Seanie’s death - and the manner in which it occurred. “This should never have happened”, said his brother Colm who was back from England for the funeral of a third brother within a year.

“Its one of the saddest things you could think off - this poor man who could hear very little and speak only poorly left on a dark road trying to find his way home from Hospital in the night.”

Local Councillor Josie Conneely said he would be asking the HSE to investigate the matter and provide answers to the family. “It’s a very tragic situation”, Councillor Conneely said “and I extend my sympathies to all of Seanie’s family and friends.”

Seanie Flaherty lived alone in Tullyvoheen in Clifden and worked some hours a week in a caretaking role in the local Primary School. “He couldn’t read much”, said his sister Teresa “and…..