Mother of man who died after Kildare pub assault says world has been 'turned upside down'

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03-06-2025

The mother of a young man who died after he was assaulted during a melee outside a Kildare pub while celebrating the birth of his nephew nearly three years ago has said her world has been 'turned upside down' by the 'senseless attack' on her first-born child and only son.
In an emotional victim impact statement, Marita McCarthy said the Cranberries song 'Dreams' came out when her son Dylan was born in 1993, but now she cries when she hears it because her son's dreams were 'snuffed' out by the fatal assault.
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The money she had saved for her son's wedding had gone towards his funeral instead, Ms McCarthy said.
Ms McCarthy told the court her son went out to celebrate the birth of his nephew and came back in a coffin.
She said her world has been turned upside down by the 'senseless and unprovoked mob attack on my family'.
Her husband Eamonn, who was with Dylan on the night, and who was himself assaulted during the incident, said he had to discharge himself from hospital to attend his son's funeral.
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Dylan's sister, Orla McCarthy, said she had asked her brother to be her newborn son's godfather just hours before he was killed.
The statements were read out at a sentencing hearing on Tuesday evening for Calvin Dunne (25) and Sean Kavanagh (27).
Dunne was acquitted of murder but convicted of Dylan McCarthy's manslaughter by a Central Criminal Court jury following a trial earlier this year. He was also found guilty of a charge of violent disorder.
Two weeks into the trial, Dunne's co-accused, Kavanagh, with an address at St Mary's Lane, Church Avenue, Monasterevin, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Eamonn McCarthy. A charge of violent disorder was taken into consideration.
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After a defence application, Ms Justice Biggs then directed the jury to find Kavanagh not guilty of the murder of Dylan McCarthy, a charge he had denied.
It was the State's case that Mr McCarthy (29) died following an incident in which he received punches and a kick to the head from Dunne while he was attempting to get up off the ground.
Two eyewitnesses told the jury that Dylan McCarthy was kicked in the head, with one describing the noise as 'a loud thud' that was 'like kicking a football', while the other said it sounded 'like a car door' shutting.
Dunne contended, however, that he was acting in self-defence, that Mr McCarthy was himself 'involved in violence' on the night and that he did not kick the deceased in the head.
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Mr McCarthy's cause of death was a traumatic head injury and spinal injury caused by blunt force trauma.
State pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers told the jury it was not possible to determine whether a punch or kick caused the fatal injury that led to Mr McCarthy's death.
In his impact statement, which was read to the court by his wife, Eamonn McCarthy said his previous life disappeared on the night of August 21st, 2022 and he had lost his 'son and best friend'.
'I'm a broken man. The future is bleak.'
He said following the assault he was on a liquid diet for 12 weeks and now has five plates and permanent nerve damage on the right side of his face.
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Eamonn McCarthy said his last memory of his son 'gurgling' and of his 'eyes rolling back in his head' will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Mr McCarthy said his son was 'not a fighter' and everyone who knew Dylan knew he never hit or fought with anyone.
He said he hasn't been inside a pub since the night his son was killed because he has anxiety around crowds. He said his life has become very isolated and he doesn't want to leave the house.
Mr McCarthy said he felt like he had 'let my son down when he needed me most'.
'I have never regretted anything so much as entering the Bellyard pub,' he said.
Mr McCarthy said Dylan had told him that night that he was going to propose to his girlfriend Aoife in the coming months.
Marita McCarthy told the court today: 'I have no wedding to look forward to. The money I had been saving for their wedding went towards a funeral.
Dylan's mother said her son was hit and kicked to death before those responsible 'calmly walked away'. She said they did not stick around to see what they did to Dylan and had left her husband with life-long, life-altering injuries.
'My world is destroyed, devastated, changed beyond belief every day,' she said. 'Instead of picking a 30th birthday present I was picking a headstone. Every day is like Groundhog Day, wishing it wasn't true.'
She said her son died 'on a footpath outside a pub' as her husband watched his eyes 'rolling into his head and his last gasps'.
In her victim impact statement, Dylan's girlfriend Aoife Talty said she met him after her 22nd birthday and they fell 'instantly in love with each other'.
She said Dylan was 'kind, fun gentle and caring'. He never liked to be the centre of attention she said, but people were drawn to him and his 'infectious laugh'.
Ms Talty said Dylan always made her feel 'loved and happy' and she was looking forward to spending their lives together.
The trial heard that on the night of the fatal assault in August 2022, a row broke out after a drink was spilled and the group were ejected from the premises.
Dunne told gardai that when a group of people came out of the pub and a fight broke out, he saw his former co-accused Sean Kavanagh fighting with Dylan and Eamonn McCarthy.
Dunne said that at one point, Dylan McCarthy went to hit Kavanagh from behind, so Dunne grabbed Dylan McCarthy by the wrist.
He told gardaí Dylan McCarthy turned to punch him, so Dunne hit him in the 'chin or jaw' area, causing him to fall. Dunne said he then 'lightly kicked' Dylan to what he believed was 'the chest area'.
The defendant told gardaí that Dylan and Eamonn McCarthy were being 'extremely violent'. 'Everything I did was to stop them attacking Sean, I didn't drill him or kick him viciously,' Dunne said.
Dunne, of Abbey View, Monasterevin, Co Kildare, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr McCarthy on or about August 22nd, 2022. He had also pleaded not guilty to violent disorder on August 21st, 2022, at Dublin Road, Monasterevin.
Kavanagh told gardaí he looked into the pub after hearing shouting and saw staff being assaulted. He said he tried to help remove the group causing the disturbance.
He said the fight spilled out onto the street at which point members of this group started to punch and assault him as he attempted to remove them.
Kavanagh said a man in his 50s put him in a headlock, causing him to feel 'extremely fearful' for his safety. After he got out of the headlock, he said punches were exchanged and he struck the man in self-defence.
The jury heard Eamonn McCarthy sustained a fractured jaw and required surgery and five plates to treat his injuries. He also sustained a broken nose and a hairline fracture around one of his eye sockets. He waited until after Dylan's funeral had taken place to have the operation.
At today's sentencing hearing, Detective Garda James Young told prosecution counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC that neither Dunne nor Kavanagh have any previous convictions.
Mr Ó Dúnlaing said the DPP placed the manslaughter offence in the mid-range of offending attracting a headline sentence of between four and ten years.
Michael Lynn SC, for Kavanagh, handed in a letter of apology that his client had written to the McCarthy family.
Mr Lynn said the defendant was 24 at the time of the incident. Kavanagh pleaded guilty to the Section 3 assault, he said, and has accepted his responsibility.
Mr Lynn said it was clear everything on the night happened in a very, very short space of time and Kavanagh 'deeply regrets what happened' and 'what he did'.
Mr Lynn described Kavanagh as 'hardworking' person and a 'good friend' who was spoken of very highly by a very wide range of members of the community from different backgrounds.
He said Kavanagh is a decorated sportsman and had represented Ireland in basketball.
He said his client has used his sporting talent to contribute to his local club in terms of underage training and involvement with various teams.
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John Fitzgerald SC, representing Dunne, said nothing he said on behalf of his client was seeking to mitigate or get around the fact the McCarthy family have been given a life sentence.
The lawyer asked the court to consider the matter in the wider context and take into account the effects it will have in the future.
He said the probation report assessed Dunne as being of low risk of re-offending.
Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said she needed time to digest and consider everything she had heard and adjourned the matter to June 30 for finalisation.