Dublin City Council is to be asked to review the lighting provision around the Portobello bridge, following an inquest yesterday into the drowning of a man in the Grand Canal.
The body of Joseph Carr (56), Iveagh Trust building, Bride Street, was discovered in the canal alongside Grove Road, Rathmines, on the morning on January 16th, 2006.
He had been drinking the previous night in the Lower Deck pub by Portobello Bridge and he may have slipped into the canal in a poorly-lit area, the inquest was told.
Dublin city coroner Dr Brian Farrell said he would write to the council asking it to review whether additional lighting and a rail were required along the canal. The Garda had already made this request, he said.
A postmortem found that Mr Carr died from drowning and had a moderate to high level of alcohol in his system.
The inquest also heard that Mr Carr was attending a psychiatrist at the Baggot Street clinic and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
A report from his psychiatrist said Mr Carr had "self-harm" issues, which his family confirmed, the inquest heard.
Dr Farrell recorded an open verdict and told the court: "The difficulty is I don't know what happened. This could have been an accident. There's no rail there and it's not well lit. It's possible that someone with that level of alcohol could have fallen in."