Father of Navan pool tragedy witness speaks out

The father of a 12-year-old Navan girl who witnessed the accident in which an eight-year-old boy died in the local swimming pool last August said this week that he was "shocked" that the management company running the pool had not contacted him or his family to get "crucial" information about the incident. Gordon Meehan said that his daughter, a strong and enthusiastic swimmer, had not been in the water since the accident and had to receive counselling as a result of what she had witnessed. He said he fully expected Aura Sport and Leisure Management Company Ltd to have contacted his family to gather information about what happened on the day. "We heard no word, good, bad or indifferent from them since the day it happened," he said. Mr Meehan said that neither he nor his daughter had spoken publicly about the accident since August but he had decided to speak out after he read last week how the company had criticised the Mayor of Navan, Cllr Joe Reilly, for his comments about the incident in which Isaac Agabe-Adefeya died. He said he had read that counselling had been arranged for other people who were present at the swimming pool on the day of the accident. However, it was Cllr Reilly who had arranged counselling for his daughter. Aura had said that representations made by Cllr Reilly to Tanaiste Mary Coughlan about the accident had been "misleading and politically motivated", a charge Cllr Reilly denied. Mr Meehan said he had consulted with his daughter before speaking to the Meath Chronicle this week and asked for understanding that he would not be giving precise details at this stage about the lead-up to the accident. "At no stage were we asked by Aura for information while they were carrying out the investigation they said they were doing," he said. On the day of the accident, his daughter and her friends were at the pool. He said he received a phone call from his nephew asking him to collect his daughter. "I didn't know what the incident was at that stage. I got another call saying that my daughter was involved, that she had found a body in the pool. I collected my daughter and then I rang the pool three or four times but got no answer. "I wanted to find out what had happened and I rang the Gardai and they told me, unfortunately the little boy had died. I had to go home and break the news to my daughter that the little boy had passed away," he said. He added that various media organisations had tried to contact them for interviews about the incident but he said he had not spoken until now. Since the incident, they had received no contact from Aura, Mr Meehan said. His daughter was an "excellent" swimmer but had not been back swimming since the accident. "It still affects her to this day. The one thing I can't understand is how the company can issue a report on the accident when they haven't spoken to one of the main witnesses. I'd like to see some recognition for my daughter. The company could at least have contacted us to reassure her. I can't figure out for the life of me why they didn't do that," Mr Meehan said. A spokesman for the Aura company said that the external consultants' review of the incident was now complete and was being forwarded to Aura this week. "We have no further comment to make until we are in receipt of their findings and have had the opportunity to consider them," he said.