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AP/Press Association Images

GAA player killed after falling out of a moving taxi in London

Pádraig O’Dea, 26, is originally from Mayo.

AN IRISHMAN HAS died after falling from the back of a moving taxi in London.

Pádraig O’Dea, originally from Kilmaine in Ballinrobe, county Mayo, died in hospital yesterday morning.

Tributes have poured in for the 26 year old who had been living and working in London for almost two years.

While there, he played for local GAA team, Kingdom Kerry Gaels. In a post on its website, the club said he was “held in high regard”.

“One of life’s true gentlemen and characters he was a very dedicated member of the senior team panel for the past couple of years, winning the Senior Championship, Senior League and Conway Cup with us in 2013, which was a source of huge pride to him,” a statement read.

To Padraig’s Mum and Dad Gerry and Teresa, his brother Gearoid and his wider circle of family and friends, we extend our deepest sympathy at this sad time. Please remember them all in your prayers. Rest in Peace Padraig, from all your friends at KKG, you will be missed but always remembered. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

City police were called to the scene of the incident at Alexandra Avenue in Harrow at 1.05am on Sunday morning.

When they arrived, paramedics were treating O’Dea, who had suffered life-threatening head injuries after falling onto the road.

He later died in a central London hospital.

Police have launched an appeal for information, believing the young GAA player was “part of a group of males and females who were close to a Renault Traffic minicab parked outside Dominos Pizza on Alexandra Avenue”.

According to Met Police, the “minicab subsequently drove away southbound but after a short distance the driver realised the rear tailgate was open and a man was rolling on the road behind the vehicle”.

The driver returned to the injured man and has not been arrested.

At this stage of the inquiry, police are not clear how the deceased man ended up in the vehicle. They wish to speak to the other people who were in that group at the time.

“We know this man was with a group of what appeared to be friends or colleagues moments before he was injured. He has now died and I would urge anyone with information to come forward so that we can establish the precise events,” Detective Sergeant Chris Osborne said.

Read: Jury returns medical misadventure verdict at Dhara Kivlehan inquest

Vlog: Leaving it all behind… one emigrant’s story of saying goodbye to Ireland

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13 Comments
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    Mute Mick Tobin
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:04 PM

    I suspect Johnson may emerge from his vaccine lap ahead, scornfully glancing at the EU, by forcing an early election while branding Labour a bunch of chickens if they initially resist – and then forging ahead with the Tory majority extended from 80 to 100 or so.

    And then if there’s a hot Summer of protest up North he’ll play the great statesman by calling for the Northern Ireland protocol to be scrapped or unilaterally scrapping it, in an effort to strategically weaken Ireland’s relationship with the EU, while contently watching whether there’ll be a land border as a result.

    I think we might well be in for a few more laughs with this joker.

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    mcr
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    Mute mcr
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:16 PM

    @Mick Tobin: Am no fan of the yanks but we might need them to put the pressure on the UK re a trade deal if you’re right.

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    Mute Mick Tobin
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:28 PM

    I should perhaps add that Johnson might also want to consider renaming his party the ENP – the English National Party.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:31 PM

    @Mick Tobin: it’s unreal how quite Labour are. They really need to kick in with something solid soon.

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    Mute Mick Tobin
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:48 PM

    @Paul Furey: They can’t, there’s absolutely b***** all they can do at the moment. They tried moving to the hard left under Corbyn – seemingly an effort to move away from Blair which already started with Ed Miliband, and that obviously didn’t work.

    Now they’re back at the centre and all they can do is wait until the corona crisis is over, and it’s back to the everyday realities including those of Brexit. Then perhaps they have a shot at coming up with a few viable alternatives (such as joining the customs union).

    I think for one they need another leader, perhaps Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. In any case I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before they have a serious chance at winning an election.

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    Mute Gary Garden
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:51 PM

    @Mick Tobin: You are hypothesising my worst fears. He is a deplorable joke of a man with zero integrity, morals. His political and career ambitions trumps anything like an international peace treaty such as the GFA. There will be terrible consequences for the UK but if the terds amplify scenes like week he could have his excuse.

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    Mute Mick Tobin
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    Apr 13th 2021, 10:07 PM

    @Gary Garden: In a sense Johnson is simply a representative of the usual confrontational divide-and-conquer style of British politics – albeit a more serious case. But Brexit has made it spill over onto the international stage, with Ireland the first scapegoat to be encountered there.

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    Mute Cez Miname
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    Apr 13th 2021, 10:10 PM

    @Mick Tobin: you had me at ‘joker’… spoiled it with this prejudiced postscript. Shame.

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    Mute David Grey
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    Apr 14th 2021, 1:00 AM

    @Paul Furey:
    Since Corbyn was shafted there is no opposition, Starmer is Tory light, just like Blair.
    Same happened here with Labour becoming FG Light.
    No opposition in the UK and only SF as opposition here with PBP, SD and a few others.
    Awful Shame everyone has shifted to the Right

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    Mute Gerard Jennings
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    Apr 14th 2021, 1:24 PM

    @Mick Tobin: an nationalist leader, Ireland would benefit greatly from one

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Apr 13th 2021, 10:29 PM

    For a small Irish newspaper to infer that the British prime minister is some sort of circus character is a bit rich considering what you have for a government in Ireland.

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    Mute Richard Cronin
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    Apr 13th 2021, 11:01 PM

    @Michael Maher: the guardian is not Irish, it started in Manchester & it has become a laughable shadow of its former self.

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Apr 13th 2021, 11:42 PM

    @Richard Cronin: The Journal took up on it

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    Mute Richard Cronin
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    Apr 14th 2021, 12:14 AM

    @Michael Maher: this is journal most of the articles on here are copy & paste jobs from associated press (American). That don’t make it irish, it makes journal a poor news site that is why most people come on here for the comments.

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    Mute Michael Maher
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    Apr 14th 2021, 12:18 AM

    @Richard Cronin: 100%

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    Mute Scott Coulter
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    Apr 13th 2021, 8:46 PM

    He is certainly no mug.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:02 PM

    @Scott Coulter: he is actually. He’s out of his depth. He wanted the lead role in his school, he got and hadn’t a clue what to do. He wanted the

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    Mute Mary Nugent
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    Apr 13th 2021, 9:32 PM

    He is Penny wise and Pound……

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    Mute Brían Ó Tuathail
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    Apr 14th 2021, 12:50 PM

    A very good read. Unfortunately we have a government who is not performing like Johnson but by their actions, have inadvertently become clowns. Everything they touch at the moment is falling apart. These clowns are not giving us anything to laugh at and the audience are far from happy.

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