Sligo blocade

I just wish I had a blanket to wrap around him’

The whole country had learned through the heartfelt appeals by Robert’s parents, Mark and Majella, that their son feared the dark and, aware of that, a garda charged with preserving the scene asked Fr O’Donovan to pass on a message to the family if he thought it appropriate.

Fr O’Donovan recalled: “He said, ‘I was one of two gardaí who kept watch with Robert last night . . . I would like the parents to know that Robert wasn’t alone last night – I spoke to him all the time’; and then he concluded, ‘I just wish I had a blanket to wrap around him’.”

Sligo blocade

“A blockade by farmers of one of Sligo’s most scenic beauty spots has been threatened by North Sligo farmer, Andy McSharry in what would be a dramatic escalation of the dispute...