LOCALS IN YOUGHAL, Co Cork, plan to hold a silent candle light vigil tomorrow night as a show of support to the bereaved families of Brendan Wall and Ivan Chittenden who died while participating in an Ironman event in the town on Sunday.
Members of the public are invited to bring a candle or torch light to the vigil which will take place at 7pm tomorrow at Green Park.
Community radio presenter Tommy Collins said that the people of the town are keen to show solidarity with the families.
“There is a great community spirit in Youghal and we feel we should do something to honour the passing of those two brave athletes who sadly passed away.
“A silent candle lit vigil (will be held) for a half an hour on Thursday evening here in the centre of Youghal to honour the memory of those men and to show our support and commitment to the two families.”
Meanwhile, sea swimmers in the town have already paid tribute to the men. Members of the Salty Souls group held a minute’s silence in the water yesterday morning in a show of respect to the families of the deceased.
Group member Orla O’Riordan said that it was “a very poignant moment” and a “show of love and sadness at their loss.”
Mr Wall, who got engaged to his fiancee Tina in May, will be laid to rest tomorrow after a requiem mass at 1pm at the Church of St Brigid, Grangegeeth, Co Meath.
He will be buried in the adjoining cemetery. Mourners have been asked to make a donation to East Cork Rapid Response in lieu of flowers.
Brendan (44) was working in the UK as a sales director for Top Tubes Ltd In Solihull. There he was described as being “one of life’s good guys.”
Just last week he met up with members of Stourbridge FC to announce plans by the firm to sponsor the women’s first team for the 2023-2024 season.
In a statement, Stourbridge FC said that they were “saddened” to hear the “terrible news” of his passing and grateful for his and Top Tubes support.
“Our thoughts are with his fiancee, family and friends and with all of his colleagues.”
Brendan was an engineering graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He also completed an MBA at the University of Hull. He is survived by his fiancee Tina, his parents, Oliver and Gertrude, his siblings Martin, Martin, Joe and Maria, extended family and friends.
A private service for Toronto-based Ivan Chittenden (64) was held at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork yesterday. (Tuesday) His wife Siobhan travelled to Ireland when news emerged of the tragedy which had unfolded in Youghal.
The Canadian, who was an accomplished athlete, started training 12 years ago following the sudden death of his first wife.
In addition to competing in Ironman events he ran marathons in Tokyo, Berlin, London, Chicago, New York and Boston. He completed his first Ironman event a decade ago.
The native of Brantford, Ontario, found love again and subsequently remarried. He is survived by his second wife Siobhan and her children Jack and Kate.
He had retired from his employment as a senior partner in Ernst and Young just two years ago and enjoyed travelling with his wife and participating in sporting events.
Mr Chittenden was a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada. He worked for Ernst and Young for 42 years starting out in their office in London, Ontario.
Both men died in the swimming segment of an Ironman triathlon at Claycastle beach in Youghal.
Triathlon Ireland has said it did not sanction the event, but a dispute erupted yesterday over the timeline of when exactly they informed Ironman Ireland of this and whether it was before the race began.
Minister Simon Harris has described the dispute as “unedifying”.
Triathlon Ireland has said an investigation is ongoing, and that it would provide any assistance the authorities needed.
Gardaí are preparing a file for the attention of the Cork City coroner.
Cork County Council, the event’s host sponsor, said it was seeking a full account of the incident from Ironman Ireland.
The council said it would determine its position as the host sponsor for next year’s event once it had considered both the full account from Ironman and any coroner’s inquest.
Speaking to reporters in Lucan, Minister for Higher and Further Education Simon Harris said the thoughts of people across the country were with the family and friends of the men who had died in the “horrifically sad tragedy”.
He said: “I think being very honest, I think some of the disagreement around facts has been unedifying, to put it mildly.
“It’s really important the truth is established and there can only, obviously, be one set of facts.
“My colleague Minister Thomas Byrne has been pretty clear in relation to Sport Ireland now having the space and the opportunity to help try and ascertain some of those facts.
“And I’m also very conscious that the gardaí will be preparing a file for the coroner too, so there’ll be a number of processes that are under way.”
He added: “I do think it is really important that the truth emerges, it’s really important that we move beyond statements and counter-statements and different versions and that the facts are established.”
Speaking to RTE radio, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said it was “too early” to say whether there should be a public inquiry.
She said: “This is an absolute tragedy and is devastating for all of their families. I think we need to understand what’s happened.”
Marc Ó Cathasaigh, a Green Party TD who has been involved in organising and taking part in triathlons, said: “I do think it’s very worrying that we have conflicting accounts from Triathlon Ireland and from the Ironman brand.”
Asked on RTE’s Morning Ireland why so many people had taken part in the event given the conditions, he said months of training was needed for the event.
“If the race gun is starting, I think there’d be very few athletes who wouldn’t step up and make that start,” he said.
“And that’s why the role of people like the officials in Triathlon Ireland and within the Ironman event, it’s critical that they make those decisions – and very difficult decisions often to make – but to take those decisions in the interest of athletes’ safety.”
Sinn Fein’s spokesperson on sport Chris Andrews has called for an independent inquiry into the conditions on the day, and said Sport Ireland should take “a central role in this”.
But Ó Cathasaigh said that the authorities needed to be given space to make an “initial determination”.
“Because, while looking at the videos, I can see that the conditions were certainly difficult, and we do know that two men lost their lives during the course of the event, but at this point, it hasn’t been clearly established that one thing is associated with the other and that’s the appropriate first step to take,” he said.
Some competitors have spoken out about the sea conditions on Sunday morning, stating that there were rolling waves 10ft to 15ft high that had thrown competitors back towards the rocks.
People reported seeing some competitors panicking in the water and others said they had stopped to assist athletes who were in distress.
Additional reporting by PA
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