Community Grieves As Funeral Plans Announced For Popular Teen Who Died Following Canal Tragedy

Tuesday, 14 May 2024 15:21

By Martin Osborne

There have been calls for a public campaign to show people how deep and dangerous loughs along the canals are.

The funeral details have been announced for 15-year-old Newcastle teengaer Max O'Connor who died at around 5pm on Saturday after getting into difficulty in the water in the Grand Canal Between Ardclough And Celbridge.

Max is survived by his parents Brian and Dolores, siblings Lee, Emma, Ava, Milly, Libby, Mark and Dwayne, and niece Esme and nephew Luan.

The funeral will take place at 11am on Tuesday, May 21, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Clondalkin Village.

It will be followed by burial in Newlands Cross Cemetery.

Speaking to Kfm earlier, local Cllr Trevor Gilligan said he grew up near the canals.

He said he is aware of another tragic drowning incident that happened in the canals along Cappaghmore a number of years ago.

He has called for a campaign to make children aware of how deep the loughs along canals are.

He said they are extremely are deceptive in that they can appear shallow but they are very deep.

He said it is not unusual to see children swimming in the canals.

He said there is an urgent need for more prominent signage and an awareness campaign to prevent children using them for swimming.

"I do recall, like, going through the years when the sun comes out and it's a sunny day, you would see kids jumping in, going for a swim," he said.

He added: "They're not a safe place for anybody to go to be going swimming. And I would be calling on local councils, Irish waterways and the Minister for Environment to put a plan and proposals in place to make sure that people are aware of how dangerous these canals can be. We need a campaign to alert people not to go near the locks because they're not swimming pools, they're not bodies of water that, you know, we should be encouraging people to go swimming in."

"I can't imagine what the parents are going through and the family at this moment in time. He had his whole life ahead of him," he said.