A student hanged himself in his rented accommodation in Galway after suffering years of bullying in school, an inquest in the city heard yesterday. The 20-year-old UCG student was subjected to years of physical, verbal, and racial abuse in a school in a west of Ireland town.
At the request of the dead man's family, the Coroner, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin, sent a copy of the inquest file to the Minister for Education to inform him of the worst consequences of bullying.
"Every individual at home, school and in the workplace is entitled to their own physical space," said Dr MacLoughlin.
"They are entitled to freedom from taunting, harassment, teasing and abuse. Any infringement is inherently wrong and the extreme consequences of it are extremely sad and tragic, as we see today."
His mother told the inquest that her son took his own life after years of constant "torture" by bullies.
He was found hanging by his belt in the house he shared with three other students in the suburb of Newcastle, Galway, on February 19th.
One of his flatmates said he had been out for a few drinks with the student earlier that evening and noticed he was "feeling down".
Attempts to resuscitate him failed and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at University College Hospital.
The dead student's mother, a non-national, said her son was a young man of "immeasurable talent" who had excelled in his studies, at golf and hurling and was an accomplished musician who played in a local band.
But she said that from 17 years onwards he gradually lost enthusiasm for all these things and became withdrawn.
"The reason for this was the physical, verbal and racial abuse he was subjected to during his formative years. He achieved his goal of studying electronic engineering at UCG. When he passed an exam, he downplayed it and believed that the Department had passed him out of sympathy," she added.
His mother said her son was a sensitive person who always tried to help others. She said the family were taken back after his death by the number of people who came to their home to tell them about things he had done for them over the years.
But she said the bullying and abuse had taken their toll on her son. He had his belongings defaced and she recalled an incident where one bully had taken his favourite baseball cap and urinated in it.
The son had kept the years of abuse to himself. It was only when he went to university that he started confiding in his family about the years of torture he suffered in secondary school.
Racial comments were constantly directed at him because his mother was not Irish and he could not sleep at night.
"He was afraid to go out because of the malicious attention; because the bullies were playing their deadly game," she said. "What should have been the most carefree years of his life were taken from him by ignorance and jealousy. Our hearts are broken in grief.
Addressing her son, she said: "You did not fail us, we and society failed you. We say this in the hope that we can help some other boys and girls through their torture. Please do not suffer in silence. The Government has got to protect children from this happening again."
Dr MacLoughlin said he was "very taken back" by what he had heard. He said he greatly admired the mother's courage and that it illustrated her love for her son.
It is the policy of The Irish Times in reporting certain inquests to protect the identities of deceased persons and/or their families.