Investigation continues into death of boy after Midlands hotel pool tragedy

by Seán McCárthaigh

An investigation into the death of a young boy who died after getting into difficulty in a swimming pool in a hotel in Tullamore this summer is ongoing, an inquest has heard.

Oliver Forde (6) of Innismore, Crumlin, in Dublin was pronounced dead at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin on May 31, 2022,

The young boy had got into difficulty while playing in the swimming pool at Tullamore Court Hotel in Tullamore two days earlier.

Oliver, who was a pupil at Harold’s Cross National School in Dublin, was rushed by emergency services to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore before later being transferred by ambulance to the children’s hospital in Crumlin.

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard a post-mortem on the body of the young boy had established that he had died from injuries caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain,

The coroner, Aisling Gannon, said the results of the autopsy showed the brain injury had been caused by “prolonged immersion in water.”

The boy’s father, Denis Forde, gave evidence of formally identifying his son’s body to Garda Stephen Cohen on the afternoon of May 31 shortly after Oliver had been pronounced dead.

His mother, Nina Mahon, who was accompanied by other family members, wept openly in the court during the brief hearing.

An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Lauren Tierney, applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 of the Coroner’s Act on the basis that an investigation into Oliver’s death was still ongoing.

The coroner granted the requested adjournment for a six-month period and listed the case for mention again on May 2, 2023.

Oliver is survived by his parents, Denis and Nina and two brothers.