Heroic homeless man drowns trying to rescue stranger in Dublin’s River Liffey

A homeless man who drowned after jumping into the River Liffey to rescue a stranger who was trying to take his own life performed “a very courageous and heroic act,” an inquest has heard.

James Nicholl (41), a native of The Curragh, Co Kildare and former soldier, died in the early hours of April 8, 2023 while attempting to help another man who was struggling in the water near Grattan Bridge at Capel Street at around 1.30am.

Mr Nicholl had been living in temporary accommodation at the Paramount Hotel in Temple Bar with his partner, Donna Walker, when he came across a man in distress about his friend jumping in the river. The bodies of both men were recovered from the Liffey several hours later.

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The other victim was Modestas Banys (21), the son of Lithuanian parents who came originally from Monaghan but who had been living in Garynisk Square in Tallaght while studying in Dublin.

An inquest into the deaths of both men at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Friday heard Mr Banys had made suicidal references in a series of texts to a friend earlier that night. The friend, Johnny Friel, gave evidence of jumping into a taxi from his home in Stoneybatter after receiving worrying text messages from Mr Banys at around 1am.

Mr Friel said he had initially contacted his friend to question why Mr Banys had posted a message on Instagram at 12.42am which stated: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm to anyone who came in my path.”

The inquest heard the deceased had written in one text: “I’m just done with life” followed a minute later with “I’m going to jump in the Liffey.”

Mr Friel said Mr Banys had also made a reference to being “dumped” in one text in a reference to the recent break-up of a relationship with his boyfriend.

He gave evidence of meeting his friend in Street 66 bar on Parliament Street where Mr Friel insisted they would get a taxi home and stay together as Mr Banys was “upset and crying.”

When they were on Grattan Bridge, Mr Friel said he realised he needed help to deal with his friend and was trying to contact gardaí on his phone when Mr Banys suddenly vaulted over the bridge and jumped into the river below.

The witness said a man whom he now knew as Mr Nicholl passed the scene with his girlfriend and climbed up on the bridge and dived into the river “within seconds” after asking if someone was in the water.

Mr Friel said he advised Mr Nicholl not to jump in the river after his friend if he could not swim but Mr Nicholl replied: “Don’t worry. I’ll get him.”

The inquest heard that Mr Nicholl managed to get hold of Mr Banys in the water but both men appeared to be struggling before getting separated mid-river.

Mr Friel said a number of unsuccessful efforts were made to throw lifebuoys at the victims, while another male who had stripped to his boxer shorts was prevented from jumping into the river.

In reply to questions from the coroner, Clare Keane, Mr Friel confirmed that Mr Banys was able to swim and he praised Mr Nicholl as “a brave man.”

In evidence, Ms Walker fought back tears as she recalled how she described Mr Nicholl, with whom she had been in a relationship for 20 years, as her “husband” even though they were never married.

She recounted how they were just returning from having a pizza when they came across a man in distress on Grattan Bridge begging for help.

Ms Walker said her partner, whom she described as “a good strong swimmer” had jumped straight into the river and cried out to Mr Banys to kick his legs to try to swim. “That’s just who he was. He would help anybody,” she remarked.

Ms Walker claimed it was hard to see the two men in the water as they drifted downstream but she saw Mr Nicholl on his back before he disappeared under the surface.

Another friend of Mr Banys, Shayne McCullough, said they had gone to Street 66 the previous evening. Mr McCullough said his friend, whom he knew as “Mode” seemed “stone cold sober” when they met at around 8.30pm.

He said Mr Banys had not appeared overly affected by the recent breakup of a relationship and he could say with certainty that Mr Banys had not taken any drugs while they were out together, although they had consumed alcohol.

Mr McCullough admitted he was fairly intoxicated by the end of the night and he had become separated from Mr Banys after they returned to Street 66 after being refused entry to the George bar on South Great George’s Street.

However, he said his friend had been “laughing and joking” during the evening. Mr McCullough said he only heard about what happened to Mr Banys when he was contacted by Mr Friel at 5.35am.

Sergeant Glen Brady of the Garda Water Unit told the inquest that the search for the two men had to be called off at 2.20am but was resumed again at 5.30am.

Sgt Brady said Mr Nicholl’s body was subsequently found floating near the Millennium Bridge at 6.25am, while the body of Mr Banys was recovered from near the Ha’penny Bridge at 7.10am.

Sergeant Joanna McCormack confirmed to the coroner that no lifebuoys were missing from their posts but she noted it would take some time to reach one in cases where someone had jumped off a bridge as they are only stationed on the riverbanks.

Mr Banys’ mother, Daiva Baniene, said she had last spoken to her son three days earlier and he had stayed with her the previous weekend when he informed her about the breakup of his relationship following a row. However, she told the coroner that he was still making jokes so that she had no concerns about him.

“I never thought he was going to do this,” she added.

Ms Baniene did acknowledge that her son had wanted to kill himself a year or two before the fatal incident.

Mr Nicholl’s father, James Nicholl Senior said he had last seen his son about a month before when he had appeared happy and was “always laughing.”

He said he believed his son was not on any medication at the time of his death but it was possible that he was taking drugs such as methadone.

The coroner said postmortems showed that both men had died due to drowning in what were “profoundly tragic deaths.”

Dr Keane recorded a verdict of death by suicide in the case of Mr Banys and one of accidental death in relation to Mr Nicholl.

The coroner praised Mr Friel for his “valiant and loyal efforts” to help his friend and Mr Nicholl for his “very courageous and heroic act.”

The families of both men, who declined to comment on the case outside the coroner’s court, embraced each other warmly at the conclusion of the inquest.

Last November, Mr Nicholl was posthumously awarded the highest honour for bravery by civilians. His parents, Noreen and James Nicholl, collected the Gold Bravery medal at the ceremony for the National Bravery Awards in Dublin.

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article please contact:
Samaritans helpline 116 123
Aware helpline 1800 80 48 48
Pieta House on 1800 247 247

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