Inquest into double drowning in river Liffey told of problems with lifebuoys

There were too few lifebuoys available at the scene of the drowning of two men in the river Liffey and those that were at the scene had ropes that were tangled or too short, an inquest has been told.

Dublin District Coroner Dr Clare Keane found both James Nicholl (41) and Modestas Banys (21) died from drowning.

A verdict of death of suicide was recorded for Mr Banys, as he had jumped into the river to take his own life, and Mr Nicholl dived into the river in a bid to save him and died accidentally. Dr Keane said Mr Nicholl had sadly lost his life in “a very courageous and heroic act”.

Though Mr Nicholl, a former soldier in the Defence Forces from the Curragh, Co Kildare, and who lived in a homeless hostel in Temple Bar, was a “strong swimmer” and was able to reach Mr Banys in the water, both then disappeared from view.

“He was there and then he just went under and I didn’t see him after that,” Mr Nicholl’s partner of 20 years, Donna Walker, told the hearing. She added when she and Mr Nicholl were walking through the city centre in the early hours of Easter Saturday, April 8th, 2023, they saw a man – Johnny Friel – “shouting and begging for help” as his friend, Mr Banys, has just jumped into the river.

The inquest was told Mr Banys, the son of Lithuanian parents, had split up with his boyfriend in the period before his death, and spoke of being “dumped”.

Mr Banys was socialising in Street 66, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, on the evening of April 7th with his friend Shayne McCullough, who told in inquest hearing on Friday they consumed beer and whiskey. They then went their separate ways sometime between midnight and 1am on Saturday.

Mr Friel, another friend of Mr Banys, said he saw him post a message on his Instagram account at 12.42am on Saturday which read: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm to anyone that came in my path.” Mr Friel left his home in Stoneybatter and took a taxi to Street 66 and found his friend, who had addresses in Monaghan and Garrynisk Square, Belgard, Tallaght. When they got out on to the street, Mr Banys ran on to Grattan Bridge and vaulted off the bridge at about 1.30am.

While two buoys were available close to the scene, Sgt Joanna McCormack, of Store Street Garda station, said the rope on one was tangled. And though she acted as quickly as she could to untangle it, that process took time.

Sgt McCormack explained there were no posts with buoys on the bridge and only one post in between the bridges on the Liffey. That meant if someone entered the water from a bridge, as was the case for both Mr Banys and Mr Nicholl, any rescuer had to run off the bridge and down the quays to retrieve a buoy. “You’re losing time,” she said.

Though a search involving the Garda water unit, a Garda helicopter and a Dublin Fire Brigade rescue boat continued until about 2.30am, it was called off and the men’s bodies were found when a search resumed from about 5.30am.