“Totally unacceptable” – Parade float of deceased Carlow man brought to post office condemned

The individuals involved have been asked to apologise.

The depiction of a deceased Carlow man being brought to a post office during a Saint Patrick's Day parade last week has been described as "totally unacceptable" by local natives. Images from the parade circulated widely on social media across the weekend. Walter Lacey, a former Carlow County Councillor, spoke about the upset caused by the depictions on Lunchtime Live on Newstalk on Monday (21 March). In January, Peadar Doyle was brought to a post office in Carlow town by two men looking to collect his pension, until it was discovered that Doyle was actually deceased. A man has since been charged in connection with the incident, and a court case is ongoing. "I was extremely disappointed when it was brought to my attention that two parades and possibly more in Belmullet County Mayo and Kilfenora in County Clare made a complete mockery of a local Carlow man here, Peadar Doyle, who passed away in January," Lacey said. "There were strange circumstances in relation to his passing, and they imitated that and thought it was a very funny thing that they would do, but it was so offensive, so hurtful and so thoughtless. "It has generated a huge outcry here in Carlow and beyond that people would have thought to have put in such a float in a Saint Patrick's Day parade and secondly, that they would be allowed to put in such a float in the Saint Patrick's Day." Lacey went on to describe how well respected Peadar Doyle was in Carlow, saying that there would be very few people "who would have a bad word to say about Peadar". The former councillor said that he had reached out to organisers of both parades in Belmullet and Kilfenora via Facebook's Messenger service, but was yet to receive acknowledgement or an apology from the representatives. Lacey is calling on the organisers to apologise to the family for any upset caused by the depiction.