THE family of a former chairman of the GAA's Ulster Council have said they are "devastated" after a coroner ruled that his death was a "tragic accident".
John O'Reilly (83), from Camlough in Co Armagh, was pushed by a fellow dementia patient, fell and hit his head off a wall at Gillis Memory Centre in Armagh on December 4 2018.
He suffered serious injuries, including a fractured skull and fractured spinal bones, and died in Craigavon Area Hospital a week later.
The patient who pushed Mr O'Reilly, referred to as Mr Y, had a history of aggression linked to his dementia and had previously pushed the former Crossmaglen Rangers chairman twice in succession at the specialist NHS unit on November 30.
Giving his findings on the third day of the inquest yesterday, coroner Joe McCrisken said the fatal push happened by "pure chance" and was a "tragic accident".
In a statement afterwards, the father-of-seven's family said they will need time to reflect on the findings and discuss them with their legal team.
"The (Southern Health and Social Care) trust should have but never informed our family of the previous two pushes," they said.
"If the family had been advised of this we would have taken Dad home.
"We will always deeply regret that we agreed to Dad being placed in the Gillis Memory Centre. He should have been safe there."
Mr O'Reilly was chairman of the Ulster Council when Armagh won its only All Ireland senior championship in 2002.
During emotional evidence yesterday, his daughter Maureen McGleenan said her mother Angela was unable to attend the inquest because it would have been too traumatic.
"Dad may have been 83 and suffering from dementia but his life was violently taken away from him and our family are still coming to terms with the way he died," she said.
The inquest had heard from an expert in old age psychiatry, Professor Robin Jacoby, who said Mr Y should have been prescribed 1.5mg of an anti-psychotic drug two or three times a day to "achieve a steady state of sedation".
Mr Y, who has since died, was given the drug several times on an ad hoc basis following his admission on November 30 2018.
However, Mr McCrisken said he was unable to accept Prof Jacoby's finding, saying it was made "completely in hindsight" following the fatal push.
He also said putting Mr Y into a moribund state through sedation would not have respected his human rights.
Following the fatality, Mr Y was given 2mg of the anti-psychotic drug twice a day.
Mr McCrisken said all of the experts who gave evidence agreed that, at the time, it was appropriate he was under one-to-one observation, rather than two-to-one.
He also said the patient did not meet the criteria for being sectioned on mental health grounds at the time.
Mr Y was later sectioned, placed under two-to-one observation and cared for away from the main unit.
Mr McCrisken acknowledged that the process "must have been very difficult and will remain very difficult" and thanked Mr O'Reilly's family for their "patience and respect".
