Martina (38) died in laneway

THE heartbreaking final movements of an Enniscorthy mother of four were recalled at her inquest in The Riverside Park Hotel last week.

The body of Martina Balfe (38) was discovered in a laneway connecting Gorey Shopping Centre with the Civic Square on July 13 of last year.

The inquest heard that on the day in question, Ms Balfe had travelled to Gorey to attend counselling.

While there, she met with a group outside the Centra Shop which included Patrick Kennedy of Wexford town.

Mr Kennedy was not present at the inquest, but a sworn deposition from him was read aloud by Inspector Sean Clince. In it, he said that he had never met Ms Balfe before, but ran into her outside the shop while meeting friends that day.

He said that they all went down to the old CBS where they drank and noted that Ms Balfe had been ‘drinking all day’.

He said that during the course of the hours they were together, they took certain tablets and they combined these with cans of pre-mixed whiskey that Ms Balfe had in her possession while at the laneway.

At this point, he said, they both fell asleep and when he woke up it was dark. He said Ms Balfe was still asleep and he put a jumper over her before leaving and returning to Wexford.

‘I don’t know if she was alive or dead at that point now,’ his deposition said. ‘It’s something that’s been playing on my mind ever since. I never would have left if I knew.’

The next morning, Ms Balfe’s body was discovered by Patrick O’Brien, a security guard at the shopping centre, who called gardaí. William Balfe, the deceased’s father, was then called upon to officially identify her body.

Pathologist Dr Fergus McSweeney said he believed that she had ingested heroin at some point before her death, something which may have been a contributory factor. He outlined that she had ingested a cocktail of prescription type medications and toxic levels of alcohol and that she had simply fallen asleep and not woken up again.

Coroner Dr Sean Nixon recommended a verdict of death by misadventure and the jury agreed.

‘I know that Martina had a long battle with alcohol in particular,’ he said to her heartbroken father William. ‘It’s extremely sad that it has ended up this way.’ Everyone present offered their sympathies to Mr Balfe and the extended family.