He was 67, so not particularly old, and according to reports he wasn't frail. So, maybe enough of the elderly, vulnerable refs; it could happen to any of us at any age.

Originally Posted by Slievenaglogh

He was 67, so not particularly old, and according to reports he wasn't frail. So, maybe enough of the elderly, vulnerable refs; it could happen to any of us at any age.

+ 1 , by modern standards he was an active ,outgoing middle aged man .That this could happen where it did , is chilling .

I'm from Sligo and I knew Eugene personally,he was a quiet inoffensive gentleman,he had a great interest in the Irish Language and was also well known nationally in Vintage Car Circles.Now is not the time for the blame game on the 999 call.The ruthless low life who murdered Eugene will hopefully,with Garda Forensics,be successful in identifying and bringing whoever is responsible to Justice.

Nail on the head Ned. Dropped into my Mum earlier on and she was having the alarm serviced again. Horrible fact of Ireland 2012 - our Ireland- is that many of our elderly go to bed at night frightened. If they catch the low life who beat this Gentleman to death it will be very interesting o see if he/they have previous.

I don't know if I misheard but was this man's house 50 feet or 50 yards from the Garda Station? Either way the Garda being interviewed asked for anyone living close to the scene to come forward. A local man being interviewed asked the question as to why the Gardai didn't see a bit more? He made a fair point. Condolences to the man's family.

Originally Posted by elliebee

They couldn't - that's the whole point! Wouldn't that be an indication that there MIGHT be something up at that particular house - sufficient surely to make further enquiries. Everyone knew the poor old divel for God's sake.

I know from experience that, at certain times of the day, if you knock at every house in a street or park, more than 50% wouldn't answer.

Originally Posted by cricket

I know from experience that, at certain times of the day, if you knock at every house in a street or park, more than 50% wouldn't answer.

Fair point however, as far as I know there are only two men living alone on that street. Not much of a headscratcher really is it!!

Notice this issue seems to have gone away with the subsequent arrest and charging of a suspect.

However, and mindful of how easy it is to be critical of actions in retrospect, I think the entire issue of the Garda response to the initial, albeit ambiguous and probably intentionally vague call, needs much more investigation rather than being fobbed off the way it has been.

From my own extensive experience of dealing with the Gardai, I imagine the response was one of two things, neither which put a great deal of weight or importance into follow up:

The first, less scathing of the rank and file response may have been, sure we don't have the resources to investigate every house in Sligo beside a Brown gate. An understandable response in the light of Garda cutbacks and tales of patrol cars being decommissioned at end of life without replacement, but hardly a valid excuse where a mans life is concerned.

The second, and unfortunately more likely response from my experience, involved a brief discussion amongst the Gardai on duty in the station as to how to narrow down a search with such limited and unreliable information and the conclusion with the consensus of all involved that it was too little to go on. And sure investigating all the possibilities on what was probably a hoax anyway would involve far too much effort so, sure there's nothing we can do.
Any individual Garda with a bit of get up and go that might have suggested hopping in a patrol car and taking a scoot around the town or even being proactive and getting in Google streetscape and doing a virtual equivilant would immediately have been put down and rebuked by their colleagues with the exclamation "sure why are ya making extra work for yerself, haven't ya enough to be doing"

So my belief? I don't believe there was anything in the way of a response or even if there was it certainly did not involve anything as extensive as going door to door and trying to get a response or making inquiries

And if the 999 call recording does exist, the public will never hear it, because it could well prove very embarrassing to the force in exposing how blasé the answering Garda's reaction to the call most likely was

And the irony is that someone in Garda HQ will probably clip and paste this posting for filing away for future reference along with others like it in case they ever need to go in pursuit against the likes of me or build a case against us. That unfortunately is the other side if how effective the Gardai can be when or if required!