Skull in fishing netsbelonged to Irish Andrew
Tributes from the President & Taoiseach
A HUMAN skull discovered in the nets of a fishing trawler in the middle of the Irish Sea last year was identified as that of a young man who was reported missing 14 months earlier, an inquest has heard.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard a DNA sample extracted from the remains was matched with that of Andrew Finni from Lusk, Co Dublin, 22, reported missing on May 7, 2022.
In a statement, the captain of the trawler, Mark Francis, said the skull was discovered in the nets brought on deck on July 2, 2023.
He added he wrapped the remains in rags and placed them in a cardboard box before contacting gardai who met him when the trawler arrived back in port in Howth.
The inquest heard Mr Finni’s girlfriend Amelia Gros reported him missing after becoming concerned when nobody had heard from him after they had been involved in a car crash on May 6, 2022.
Ms Gros said the couple had stayed the previous night in the Citynorth Hotel in Gormanston, Co Meath, where her boyfriend had a schizophrenic episode when he thought “people were after him”.
She added Mr Finni had run away from the scene of the accident at Hamlet Close in Balbriggan.
Ms Gros said she used a tracking device to locate her phone which Mr Finni had to fields near Bremore Bay where she also found her boyfriend’s wallet which the inquest heard contained €600 cash. She reported him missing the following day.
Paul Reidy, a witness who was walking his dogs at Sailor’s Grave, Bremore Bay in Balbriggan on May 6, 2022, said a young black male who seemed to be panting and breathing heavily had appeared from fields on to the beach 50m away from him.
He added: “There was a sense of anxiousness as if he was running away from something.”
Det Sgt Eoin Mcdonnell said there was no reason to suspect any foul play. Coroner Dr Crona Gallagher recorded an open verdict as she said the cause of death could not be ascertained due to the passage of time and limited body parts to analyse.
It was as if he was running away from something WITNESS PAUL REIDY YESTERDAY
Senator Norris’s last day ture from the 1960s to the 1990s, Joyce was Norris’s specialist subject and he long championed Ulysses.
The first Bloomsday – to celebrate June 16, the date on which the novel about Leopold Bloom is set – happened in the 1950s, when it was marked by a group of literary greats such as Flann O’brien and Patrick Kavanagh.
But it was Norris who brought it to life in the 1960s and 1970s, introducing the idea of dressing up in hats and striped
coats for the day itself.
LANDMARK RULING
Norris was behind one of the most significant legal challenges in Irish history in a bid to decriminalise homosexuality. Its victory in 1988 is seen as one of the greatest successes equality.
Norris v Ireland was the landmark case that decriminalised homosexual acts in Ireland. His legal counsel on the case, Mary Robinson, signed it into law as president in 1993.
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MARRIAGE EQUALITY
Ensuring being gay was no longer a crime was a key fore-runner to marriage equality. Norris got a hero’s welcome when he arrived at Dublin Castle for the referendum count in 2015, when Ireland became the first country to officially approve same-sex marriage.
He later said the roots for the marriage equality campaign came from an unlikely source.
“In the early days of the gay movement, a fundamentalist Christian shouted in my face: ‘You are about the homosexual agenda. Next you will be looking for homosexual marriage.’
“I took a pen and a piece of paper and said: ‘Thank you madam. What a splendid idea’.”
PRESIDENTIAL RUN
In 2011, David Norris was on the road to becoming the next president of Ireland. With a background in human rights, he seemed the perfect choice.
However, a revelation that he had made representations on behalf of a former lover convicted of statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy led to his campaign’s collapse.
Norris withdrew from the race, quoting Beckett: “Ever tried, ever failed, no matter. Try again, fail again, fail better.”
Michael D Higgins
THE President and Taoiseach led tributes to Senator David Norris as he retired.
Yesterday in the Seanad chamber, fellow senators praised his work as he “fought many battles” and helped “transform society”.
Michael D Higgins said he had an “illustrious career” and “a courage beyond the ordinary”, describing him as “a champion of equality, diversity that will continue to inspire future generations”.
Leo Varadkar praised his campaigning on behalf of LGBT issues, women and minority groups, and said he showed “true leadership”.
He added Mr Norris was often standing up for causes that were “unpopular, poorly understood, but above all appealing to our best instincts as human beings”.
Cathaoirleach Jerry Buttimer, who is also gay, said he owed Mr Norris a “huge” debt of gratitude and praised him for sponsoring 34 Bills.
Fine Gael senator Paddy Burke said he had “fought many battles in this house, sometimes alone”, adding he had “a way with words” as “one of the finest debaters in this country”.
Former justice minister and senator Michael Mcdowell said Irish society had “been transformed” due to his work.
In his final address in the Seanad chamber, Mr Norris called for peace in Palestine.
He said: “What is happening to the inhabitants of Gaza is appalling and cannot be allowed to continue.”
Charles yesterday
208 Number of malignant melanoma deaths in Ireland every year
SARAH FERGUSON ON HER MELANOMA NEWS
THE King is “fine” ahead of his surgery for an enlarged prostate this week, the Queen revealed yesterday.
She gave the update to a royal fan while visiting a 175-year-old family-run jewellery shop.
Jessie Jackson, 86, revealed the chat as she waited outside Deacon & Son to catch a glimpse of the Queen.
She said she shook Camilla’s hand and asked her how the King was doing in Swindon, Wilts.
Jessie said the Queen thanked her for inquiring and added: “She’s lovely.”
Yesterday the King, 75, looked relaxed while driving around his Sandringham estate in Norfolk. He flew there with the Queen from Scotland on Friday.
Charles will have the prostate procedure this
Queen yesterday week after being diagnosed with the benign condition.
Yesterday Camilla also toured a domestic violence refuge to mark the Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service’s 50th anniversary.
She said it was her hope that society can stamp out the scourge of domestic abuse in the next 50 years.
The Queen, 76, praised the service’s brilliant work, saying it does “so much more than looking after victims of horrific abuse”.
She went on: “It’s looking after the children, getting into schools and teaching respect and working with perpetrators too.”
The Princess of Wales remains in hospital after abdominal surgery.
Kate, 42, is not expected to carry out official engagements until after Easter.
THE Duchess of York will use her skin cancer diagnosis to campaign on the importance of checking potentially harmful moles.
Sarah Ferguson said she would turn her distress into a positive after being told she had malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.
The Duchess revealed to friends she will use her profile to spur others to get checked in honour of pal Carolyn Cotterell, who died from the disease.
Fergie lived with Carolyn before her marriage to Prince Andrew in 1986. She died from skin cancer in 1999.
A close friend said of her campaign plan: “Sarah is a trooper. Typically, it was the first thing she did, thinking of others while she was recuperating herself. She wants to be a driving force. Sarah realises she has a big role to play on top of her public platform and she will put it to good use.”
A source close to Fergie said she would use her links with the Teenage Cancer Trust, of which she is a patron.
She could also join forces with eldest daughter Princess Beatrice, patron of the British Skin Foundation.
Her father Major Ronald Ferguson had skin cancer when he died in 2003.
Fergie yesterday shared a photo of herself thought to have been taken near a clinic in Austria where she has had treatment for the melanoma.
The disease kills around 2,300 people in the UK and 208 in Ireland annually.
Fergie said: “I have been taking some time to myself as I have been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, my second cancer diagnosis within a year.” She mentioned her breast cancer last summer followed by a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, adding: “It was thanks to the great vigilance of my dermatologist that the melanoma was detected.
“Naturally another cancer diagnosis has been a shock but I’m in good spirits.”
She added: “My experience underlines the importance of checking the size, shape, colour and texture and emergence of new moles.”
Her diagnosis was before Christmas but was not announced until Sunday.
It was just days after the Princess of Wales, 42, had abdominal surgery and as the
King, 75, prepares for a procedure for an enlarged prostate.
Fergie, 64, is now at home with ex Prince Andrew, 63, in the Royal Lodge at Windsor, Berkshire.
Melanomas can appear anywhere including the soles of feet
MELANOMA, also called malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas.
It is linked to too much exposure to UV rays from the sun or sunbeds.
Melanomas can appear anywhere on your body, but they are more common in areas that are often exposed to the sun.
Some rarer types can affect the eyes, soles of the feet, palms of the hands or genitals.
A new mole or a change in an existing mole may be signs of melanoma. The NHS says these are the five things to look out for:
■■You have a mole that’s changed size, shape or colour.
■■ A mole that is painful or itchy.
■■A mole that is inflamed, bleeding or crusty.
■■A new or unusual mark on your skin that has not gone away after a few weeks.
■■A dark area under a nail that has not been caused by an injury.