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Homeless man who died sleeping outside pub ‘didn't like staying in local hostel'
Maisie McManus said her brother was a quiet man who did not drink, and he had been saving up for a deposit to get a house
Efforts had been made to find shelter for a man who was found dead in a sleeping bag in the centre of Sligo, an inquest into his death was told.
The deceased, Joe McMorrow (68) of Maryville Hostel, Finisklin, Sligo was found to have died from congestive cardiac failure.
He was found unresponsive in a sleeping bag under a canopy at Kennedy's Pub on February 21, 2023.
A deposition from the deceased's sister Maisie McManus, read by Garda Mark Irwin stated that Gardaí called to her home in Langan Drive around 12 noon to tell her that her brother Joseph had been found dead.
She said her brother was a quiet man who did not drink, and he had been saving up for a deposit to get a house. He had been staying in Maryville Hostel, but did not like it there.
Her brother had broken his hip a few weeks previously. She added that she did not know that he was sleeping rough.
He kept himself to himself and never asked anything from anyone.
Garda Irwin's own deposition stated that he was the driver of an official patrol car when he got a call to go to Rockwood Parade where a man who had been sleeping rough had been found to be unresponsive.
When Garda Irwin arrived on the scene, he saw a man whom he knew to be Joseph McMorrow lying in a sleeping bag under a canopy at Kennedy's Pub on Rockwood Parade.
Garda Irwin checked for signs of life but there were none.
Garda Irwin contacted Dr Barry Cosgrove who came to the scene and pronounced Joseph McMorrow dead at 11.05 am.
Garda Irwin added that there was no evidence of foul play.
It appeared that he had died in his sleep and was deceased for a number of hours.
The garda added that he looked at the CCTV footage in the area where the deceased was lying and it showed that there had been no foul play.
Garda Irwin then read a deposition from Fergal Quinn, owner of Kennedy's Bar.
Mr Quinn said he got a call at 10.30am that a homeless man who seemed to be unresponsive and did not appear to be breathing outside his premises.
He went immediately to the location and observed a man lying outside the front door to Kennedy's bar.
He was lying in a sleeping bag and the witness did not know him.
Joe McMorrow
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The man did not appear to be moving so Mr Quinn immediately contacted the emergency services.
The gardai arrived soon after and he spoke with Garda Mark Irwin. He was later made aware that the man had passed away.
Another deposition from Dr Barry Cosgrove, which was read by Garda Irwin, said he arrived at the scene at 11 am after getting a phone call from Sligo Garda Station.
He examined the male, whom he now knew to be Joseph McMorrow, lying on the ground in a sleeping bag under the canopy at Kennedy's Bar. He was not breathing or showing any signs of life .
The doctor could feel that the man was cold and there was no heartbeat. He pronounced death at 11.05 am.
A letter from Sligo County Council's Housing section which was read to the inquest by the garda stated that at the time of his death, Joseph McMorrow was not booked into any emergency accommodation provided by the council nor any other local authority in Ireland.
Records indicated that over the past few years the deceased he had availed of emergency accommodation in various locations such as Cork city, Clonakilty and Sligo Town for a few weeks at a time.
He had settled in a private rented tenancy in Kinlough, County Leitrim between December 21 2020 to approximately February 2021, which was sourced by North West Simon Community, but he failed to complete a social housing application in Sligo and so was not able to fund this tenancy under the HAP Housing Assistance Payments Scheme.
The Inquest was held at Sligo Courthouse
Sligo County Council wrote to him at his last address at Uragh House, Kinlough on January 27, 2021 and forwarded the information to his tenancy support officer Marie Finney in North West Simon Community on February 9, to advise that there was still outstanding documentation from the housing application.
Some items were submitted but not enough to assess the application fully and so his application was closed when no response was obtained on April 28, 2021.
On January 17 2023, Joe's sister Kathleen McMorrow phoned the Council to advise he was staying with her in Caltragh Crescent, Sligo and needed emergency accommodation due to him keeping her awake at night as a result of his medical issues.
The council advised that he attend the Homeless clinic to be assessed and placed in Maryville Hostel.
Kathleen relayed that Joe did not want this type of accommodation.
On January 25, 2023, Joe presented to the Sligo County Council Homeless Clinic and was offered a bed in Maryville Hostel but he declined this. His reason was that he had been picked on during the last visit. This was not substantiated by staff at the hostel.
On February 21, 2023, the council heard the sad news that Joe had been found deceased while rough sleeping. They were unaware of him rough sleeping at this time.
Another letter from Focus Ireland read out in court by Garda Irwin stated that Joseph McMorrow attended their offices on four dates between September 2022 and February 2023.
He was looking for advice on homeless accommodation/finding private rented property.
Up until September 2022, the deceased had been living in a property in Cork, his old age pension had been stopped, so he decided to go back to Sligo where he was from and where he had family.
Staff made an appointment for the deceased to attend the homeless clinic with the council's homeless liaison officer.
Staff explained that there are two emergency shelters in Sligo and the homeless liaison officer books into this accommodation after assessment.
A call was made to the pension office to ask why his pension was stopped. The reply was that as soon as he got a new Sligo address, the pension would be re-instated.
Joe attended his appointment in the council and was booked into Maryville Hostel.
His pension was re-instated.
In February, Joe returned to the office.
He was no longer in Maryville Hostel and was staying between his family, B&Bs and rough sleeping.
Joe did not want to stay in Maryville or Shalamar hostels.
He was asked to reconsider this until he found a place to rent.
Staff offered support to help Joe find a place to rent in Sligo town and county.
Coroner Fergal Kelly said the results of an autopsy showed that there was no alcohol or toxicity in the deceased's system.
The cause of death was found to be congestive cardiac failure due to heart disease.
Asked if he wanted to address the court, Mr John McMorrow brother of the deceased said he had asked his brother to go to the medical centre to get his bloods checked and also for cholesterol before he passed away.
The Coroner returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.
The Coroner said the deceased was a very quiet gentleman and there was no third party involvement. He passed away peacefully.
His death was against the bigger picture of homelessness which was a very tricky area with many permutations.
He had been offered accommodation but had declined the offer for his own reasons.
Sligo County Council had a very good system for tracking homelessness.
And the homeless clinic had been open at all times for his benefit.
And Maryville and Shalamar were providing accommodation for the homeless.
The Coroner added that Joe McMorrow was too young to be passing away at the age of just 68.
He extended his deepest sympathy to the McMorrow family as did Sergeant Derek Butler on behalf of An Garda Síochána.
