RIP eirebhoy

[tetsujin1979]

The case of the man who was involved in the accident that killed Gearoid Walsh, better known as eirebhoy on the forum, has completed and he was found not guilty - http://www.independent.ie/national-news/australian-cleared-of-killing-irish-tourist-whose-organs-gave-life-to-others-down-under-3034679.html

fitting that this is published on the same day as an Ireland game

RIP Gearoid.

[Yard of Pace]

Seems to be the correct outcome from what the papers were saying. Nice to read that he donated organs which helped others and fitting to see his photo on the day of an Ireland game. RIP Eirebhoy.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Still hard to believe this happened. I was a much more regular reader of Foot.ie in the days eirebhoy was big contributer. It felt like I knew the fella and I'm sure many here are the same. His mother seems a remarkable person. Puts all this daft football lark in perspective.

[seanfhear]

I read the article and it brought a tear to my eye.

RIP eirebhoy and best wishs to his family.

[Stuttgart88]

The "thanks" button isn't working for me. If it was I'd have thanked all of the above.

RIP my cyber friend.

[BonnieShels]

Same as that. When I heard the news this morning on Morning Ireland I straight away thought of Foot.ie and the affection he was held in here.

RIP Gearóid.

[Sullivinho]

I'm a recent enough blow-in here so unfortunately I never encountered the fella but by all accounts he was top quality. I think it's very poignant to see his name listed as a moderator on the forum too. Desperately tragic story.

R.I.P.

[CraftyToePoke]

Still missed on here, without doubt and yes, very poignant the story should come out today. Fair play to his Mother for those words.

[youngirish]

Came across as a true gent. The Ireland forum has never been the same without him as cheesey as that may sound it's true.

[Fixer82]

Same as that. When I heard the news this morning on Morning Ireland I straight away thought of Foot.ie and the affection he was held in here.

RIP Gearóid.

yep i'm the exact same. first thing I thought of was foot.ie and how much he contributed and how much he was liked on this forum for his passion for the Irish team. RIP

[centre mid]

RIP Eirebhoy.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Same as that. When I heard the news this morning on Morning Ireland I straight away thought of Foot.ie and the affection he was held in here.

RIP Gearóid.

Same here, used to post a lot more back then and foot.ie was the first thing I thought of when heard the news the other morning. Tragic story, seems like the right outcome, his mother sai she didn't want the other lad to go down for it. The dignity that woman has shown is remarkable.

RIP Eireboy.

[SwanVsDalton]

Remarkable fortitude from the family. Desperately sad stuff. RIP.

[irishfan86]

Eirebhoy seemed like a genuine, good guy. As we were the same age it's especially strange having posted on this forum and other Irish soccer sites and then reading about his death one day.

It's the sort of thing that could happen to most people. Wrong place, wrong time.

His mother certainly seems like a remarkable woman as said by others.

RIP

[French Toasht]

I joined the foot.ie clan too late to have had any interaction with Eirebhoy but judging by the testimonies of posters on here that I would hold in high regard, he really was a special person, just as passionate as any of us in our communal love of the Irish football team, whose life was all too tragically cut short.

He obviously came from a lovely family and his mother in particular strikes me as someone of great fortitude, stoicism and quite inspirational in her compassion towards his killer.

RIP Eirebhoy. Regret never having had the opportunity to have had a lively exchange with you on here or over a pint on our mutual love of the Irish football team.

[elroy]

Just echo all the above sentiments and particularly those in relation to his mother. Remarkable woman and little surprise given the esteem her son is held in here.

RIP Eirebhoy but Ive little doubt he will be present in Poland this year as well.

[Fixer82]

His mother certainly seems like a remarkable woman as said by others.

RIP

Absolutely
there was a really nice little article about her in Herald the other day (Terry Prone I think).
A very dignified woman

[nigel-harps1954]

Anyone see the interview on The Saturday Night show on RTÉ with his mother? Almost put a tear to the eye, never really knew him, wasn't the most regular poster at the time, but seemed to be a great chap all round by what people say. RIP.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1139824 Show there, interview starts at 52:30 on the video. No idea how to link it that way properly, any mods able feel free to edit it to work that way.

[DannyInvincible]

Tragic story. RIP.

[Colbert Report]

I can't believe the Australian got off. Murder.

[DeLorean]

Anyone see the interview on The Saturday Night show on RTÉ with his mother? Almost put a tear to the eye, never really knew him, wasn't the most regular poster at the time, but seemed to be a great chap all round by what people say. RIP

I remember thinking at the time that his mom almost seemed like a woman who had been prepared for the tragedy, given her composure and compassion. She alluded to this in the interview, a mother's intuition really is a powerful thing.

We really don't know anything about this Australian guy's character, other than one drunken argument/fight outside a chip shop. We'll also never know for sure whether he actually felt threatened or just wanted to lash out. With this in mind I think it's better for everybody involved that he's just given the benefit of the doubt. I'd like to think that her need for an apology would be recognised and the lad would pick up the phone at some point. He may have felt uneasy about doing so after getting off.

I can't imagine what Gearoid's poor brother must be going through. It's bad enough losing a sibling but to actually witness it happening in those circumstances doesn't bear thinking about. I hope he's as strong as his mother and can find some sort of peace.

RIP

[geysir]

I can't believe the Australian got off. Murder.
The charge was manslaughter.
Regardless of what transpired before the last encounter the Australian had walked away and Gearoid confronted him again.
'The court found that the punch was savage and sudden, but that Mr Simmons had been provoked and could have ''reasonably feared'' that if he didn't strike, Mr Walsh was going to hit him instead'.
Because that doubt is there, supported by witnesses and even cctv, the court was (in all probability) quite correct to find him not guilty.
The tragedy was not that he was found not guilty, but that such a stupid encounter ended in this way with such consequences.

[Fixer82]

Very well said DeLorean!

RIP Eirebhoy

[Colbert Report]

I don't agree at all, he didn't raise a finger. He was left handed and carrying his chips in his left hand when he approached the murderer.

[French Toasht]

In fairness Colbert, this isn't the courtroom and certainly not the place for combing through evidence or recriminations.

This thread is a tribute to eirebhoy and should be treated with the reverence and dignity that it deserves.

RIP

[BonnieShels]

I don't agree at all, he didn't raise a finger. He was left handed and carrying his chips in his left hand when he approached the murderer.

An absolutely outrageous post.

I'm sure the relative strengths of Gearóid's hands were what went through yer man's mind when he was approached.

We have all been in these situations over the years. Well I know I have, where we went one step too far after a couple of beers and it just didn't end this particular way. Luckily.
I remember a particular incident in Dublin with a mate of mine just after I was back from Oz incidentally which could have been a lot worse only for I managed to get in the way of a boot and stop a head getting kicked on the ground. There's not telling exactly how things would have been if I wasn't in the right position at the right time.

As Frenchy said leave it out. This is not the forum for the discussion of the court case and decision. May I direct you to Current Affairs (http://foot.ie/forums/87-Current-Affairs) where this can be discussed in depth...

[back of the net]

I don't agree at all, he didn't raise a finger. He was left handed and carrying his chips in his left hand when he approached the murderer.


You either work in the law sector or have just watched too many episodes of Law & Order or C.S.I to make such a wild statement

Eitherway this is the wrong thread for those type of statements

RIP Gearoid and may your family have a brighter future ahead

[Crosby87]

Is it horrible of me to wonder what started the argument? Was it Football?

[John83]

Is it horrible of me to wonder what started the argument? Was it Football?
The interview with his mum is worth a look. nigel-harps1954 posted a link about ten posts back. She said he was taking ages fumbling for change at the till, and the other fellow started complaining about it.

[tricky_colour]

It would have been the other guy who started it effectively then, you would not normally complain someone
was taking too long to pay, not unless you are a highly aggressive type IMO.

[youngirish]

It would have been the other guy who started it effectively then, you would not normally complain someone
was taking too long to pay, not unless you are a highly aggressive type IMO.

I wouldn't correlate complaining about someones behaviour with starting a fight. 2 totally different things in my experience.

[tricky_colour]

I wouldn't correlate complaining about someones behaviour with starting a fight. 2 totally different things in my experience.

Maybe not but if I was behind someone in a queue and someone was taking a while to sort their change I certainly would not have complained about it,
that is very aggressive behaviour IMO. I have never had anyone complain about how long I was taking in such circumstance, and I don't recall
anyone complaining about anyone else, it really is extremely rude and provocative.

[Crosby87]

I guess the bottom line is no Aussie Jury is going to convict an Aussie of beating up an Irish man leading to his death under "murky" circumstances.
It's just not going to happen. It's not an interesting culture IMO, but they do stick together. They were even true blue when that idiot Steve Irwin who harassed animals his whole life died after harrasing animals. (Sorry, fish.)
The thing i don't understand is, was it a full on brawl or just one of those one punch freakish things.
I guess it doesn't matter.

[Colbert Report]

I guess the bottom line is no Aussie Jury is going to convict an Aussie of beating up an Irish man leading to his death under "murky" circumstances.
It's just not going to happen. It's not an interesting culture IMO, but they do stick together. They were even true blue when that idiot Steve Irwin who harassed animals his whole life died after harrasing animals. (Sorry, fish.)
The thing i don't understand is, was it a full on brawl or just one of those one punch freakish things.
I guess it doesn't matter.

One shot.

[irishfan86]

The thing i don't understand is, was it a full on brawl or just one of those one punch freakish things.
I guess it doesn't matter.

You can see the punch -- they show it as part of the interview with his mother in the link provided by nigel-harps which I've quoted below.

Eirebhoy appears to be walking past the chip shop when the guy cracks him with a pretty vicious punch. It's a very brief video with a bad angle, but it doesn't make it appear like the guy did it in self defence.


Anyone see the interview on The Saturday Night show on RTÉ with his mother? Almost put a tear to the eye, never really knew him, wasn't the most regular poster at the time, but seemed to be a great chap all round by what people say. RIP.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1139824 Show there, interview starts at 52:30 on the video. No idea how to link it that way properly, any mods able feel free to edit it to work that way.

[paul_oshea]

Its ironic, i often found keyboad warriors to be little nerds in real life subsituting the complete lack of power in real life with cyber life. Funny thing is Eb was quite on here and always the one to hold back, and always the one to intervene and aid in ceasing rows between members. It just seems so out of character from what we saw of him on here to be starting a fight or going back looking to remonstrate with someone. Drink can be a terrible thing.

Anyway I haven't seen the video and don't really want to comment on it but reading some valued members comments on here it looks like the guy(Aussie) knew what he was doing, but now that the trial is over hopefully his mother and family can move on. God be with them and his brother.

[paul_oshea]

I'm glad i commented before i saw that video. That woman is phenomenal, all those stupid mothers out there thinking and fooling themselves that their children are angels when they are pure thugs and she is very graceful throughout that interview, no bitterness coming across or anything and yet that fella never even apologised directly to her.

On a sidenote I've had so much experience dealing with drunken aussies and trying to avoid getting into any altercations, even brushing up to them on the way to the jacks and they want to fight. Anybody who has lived out there will tell you how aggressive they are especially to irish, and the ones that live over in london are even worse. The Australian law is summed up in how they are as a people - you're people dictate your laws. The stupid aussie reaction to the setanta o'hailpin video springs to mind.

[gastric]

Without wanting to get into an argument due to the nature of this thread, but in some of the tourist hotspots, we have a bad name (Bondi being one) because of the number of fights which are alcohol related. I think nationalites overseas often play up, hence the image Paul mentioned above. Personally, I have found the Aussies to be like us, except sports wise as they are the worst losers in the world. On a sidenote, the emotion expressed over here after the death of Jimmy Stynes is incredible, and rightly so. He was an amazing man and universally liked and respected. His charisma and personality has generated goodwill and respect of the Irish over here.