BYCRONANSCANLON
THE parents of a young Castlefin man have broken their silence for the first time publicly about the tragic death of their son following a late night incident in Letterkenny three years ago.
In an emotional interview with the Donegal News on Wednesday at their Dungorman home, Grace and Kevin Carlin said their son Shaun T was an innocent bystander prior to his death.
"Shaun had nothing to do with that row in Letterkenny. Looking from the outside, some people might think that he did but nothing could be further from the truth," said Shaun's heartbroken mother Grace.
"Shaun was so full of life, loved sports and would have done anything to help anyone. He had no intention of dying that early," she said.
Shaun T Carlin (23) died in hospital on Sunday May 2, 2004 from injuries sustained following an incident in Letterkenny earlier that morning. He ended up beneath a bus which then proceeded to move off and struck him on the head.
The parents were speaking after four young men appeared before the court in Letterkenny on Wednesday. None of them were charged with assaulting Mr Carlin and there is no suggestion that they were responsible in any way for his death. According to some estimates upwards on forty people were involved in the running melee.
The charges related to public order and assault offences which took place at three locations including the Port Road and Ramelton Road. The final four defendants had all charges against them dismissed at Wednesday's court. Three other defendants were before the court on similar charges last year. Two were convicted of causing a breach of the peace and a third had the charges dismissed. The charges were not related to the death of Shaun T Carlin.
"Some people say that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time but I dispute that," said Mrs Carlin.
"He was not in the wrong place. He was in the same place waiting for a taxi as he would normally be after a night out in Letterkenny. The sad thing is that not one single person has been held responsible or accountable for his death."
Shaun's parents felt aggrieved by the fact that no one spoke up for him during the court cases. They are also angry that more than fifty people may have been in the immediate vicinity of where he was struck. However, no one came forward, voluntarily, to give an account of what they had seen that night.
"There are some people out there that definitely know what happened that night and they should have come forward with information at this stage," she said.
Grace called on the relevant authorities to clamp down on late night drinking in night clubs in Letterkenny and beyond. She is also appealing for more gardai on the streets at weekends and said fast food outlets should close earlier as she feels that they are a catalyst for trouble.
However, Shaun's parents stressed that they hold no grievances against the small number of gardai on duty in Letterkenny that night. They paid tribute to the gardai for the way that they carried out their investigation and in particular thanked Superintendent Jim Gallagher and Detective Sergeant Sylvie Henry.
"The gardai that were on duty did their best but there was simply not enough of them there. If there were more gardai on the streets there would be a lot less trouble but that is not the fault of the local gardai. There are still rows in Letterkenny every weekend and nothing seems to have improved since Shaun's death," she said.
"Drink and drugs are a huge problem and discos and fast food outlets are open far too late. These fast food outlets should not be open after the discos close and they are simply a place for young people to gather and to cause trouble".
Grace recalled the last time she said goodbye to her young son the day before his death.
Shaun left home at 4.15pm to play a game of football in Glencolmcille with his beloved Robert Emmetts GAA team. He brought a change of clothes with him so he could go out in Letterkenny that night.
"If a row had not taken place that night Shaun would still be here with us. I honestly think that generally speaking everyone who was there was involved in his death. They don't think that though, they think that they have done nothing wrong".
Kevin added: "Shaun had nothing to do with any row in Letterkenny that night and he was a completely innocent bystander".
"At the end of the day no one was held accountable for his death. The law does not seem to matter to some people. The DPP let Shaun and the investigating gardai down when he decided not to prosecute anyone in relation to his death".
