THE remains of a body found in the Currane Mountains near Mulranny last August has been formally identified as that of a local man who went missing from a hospital in Castlebar almost a decade ago. An inquest into the death of 56-year-old Michael (Mickey Beag) Cattigan returned an open verdict after jurors heard that the deceased failed to return to St. Mary’s Hospital after a trip to Achill on April 8th, 1994. The jury also found that it was probable the migrant worker died on the same day he went missing from the hospital. Dr. Iqdam Tobbia, Consultant Pathologist at Mayo General Hospital said in his view Mr. Cattigan probably had become tired while walking on the mountain, sat down at a stream and went into an unconscious condition presumably because of a cardiac reason. The sequence of events which brought about last week’s resolution began last August when English tourists found some items of clothing and some bones along a river bank at Doughbeg, Mulranny.

Parlon Country!
Welcome to Parlon Country! Good man, Tom! What are we to expect as we skirt across the midlands plains? Tom Parlon – farmer turned cowboy - standing on the county border sucking a Marlboro Light (the healthier option) with his two six-guns dangling each side of his leather trousers and his eyes narrowed as he surveys every passing stranger. In Parlon Country, you don’t mess around with Tom. He knows what is best for everyone. He has delivered hundreds of civil servants packed tightly on his silver bullets shooting across the towns of the midlands. He leaves the theologians and their dancing pinhead angels in the ha’penny place. Tom Parlon’– the new saviour of the midlands and his supporters have erected placards around the county to prove the point.

An emigrant’s pride . . .

THE son of Irish emigrants is being hailed as a national hero in the United States after he spearheaded the daring mission to capture former Iraqi dicator, Saddam Hussein, writes James Laffey. Chicago-born Colonel Jim Hickey, whose mother hails from Aclare, on the Mayo/Sligo border, was the officer in charge of the 4th Infantry Division (Mechanised) 1st Brigade who located the deposed leader in an underground bunker near his hometown of Tikrit in Northern Iraq at the weekend. Yesterday (Tuesday), Colonel Hickey’s mother, Anne Marie (nee O’Hara), who emigrated to the United States in 1955, told the Mayo News of the pride she felt when she heard of her son’s extraordinary achievement.

The sad story of the St. Mary’s resident missing for almost 10 years is reported in all the papers this week following the inquest. It is unnerving to think that a middle aged man died beside a stream and wasn’t found for the best part of decade. Perhaps it tells us something about the remote wilderness areas that we still have in County Mayo – we still have areas that are rarely trodden by people. The safety warnings to hill walkers and climbers to always let someone know of their expected time of return. Don’t rely on always having signal for your mobile phone either in these wild areas.

Tom Parlon was also the butt of some jokes this week following Charlie McCreevy’s shafting of him in the Dail. His leaflet claiming credit for decentralisation of jobs to the midlands was discredited when McCreevy said the first the poor Tom knew about it was in the pub the night before the budget. Lightening fast reflexes with the photocopier though. Of course inevitably then newspaper jokes that Tom Parlon claimed credit for the capture of Saddam Hussein also abounded – and one very quick one too even on the Castlebar BB.

Of course the ‘Irishman’ who did capture Saddam was interviewed in all the Irish media this week. He came across as a very sensible sounding fellow (and not at all like some of his political masters it must be said). Of course the Saddam jokes burst out across the Internet within minutes. I have this vision of people in joke factories (there must be joke factories somewhere mustn’t there?) just sitting around waiting for events like this in order to run up a quick photoshop image or two - or three even. The minute the photos hit the wires they are up and at it cutting and pasting dodging and modifying mixing and matching. A serious event becomes a source of amusement within a matter of minutes.