NI man, 33, who died in Turkey incident named as Richard Molloy

The man from Northern Ireland who lost his life in Turkey has been named as Richard Molloy.
By Adam Kula
Published 4th Oct 2020, 17:31 GMT
The flag of the Turkish republic (Wiki Creative Commons licence - RANDAM)The flag of the Turkish republic (Wiki Creative Commons licence - RANDAM)
The flag of the Turkish republic (Wiki Creative Commons licence - RANDAM)

On Saturday night, Belfast councillor Paul McCusker broke the news of the fatality on Twitter.

He was backed up shortly after that by the MP for the north of the city, John Finucane, who issued a similar message.

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It is believed two other holidaymakers from Belfast were hospitalised.

Councillor McCusker, the SDLP deputy Lord Mayor of the city, said: “Worrying and devastating news coming from Turkey regarding three local north Belfast men.

“At this stage we know one male has died and two others are critical.

“As a north Belfast community all our thoughts and prayers are with you all including the families.”

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Mr Finucane, of Sinn Fein, said: “This evening we are devastated to learn of a tragic incident involving three north Belfast men in Turkey.

“One of the men has passed away, while the other two are currently receiving treatment in hospital.

“Our community will rally around the families at this difficult time.”

Whilst neither politician gave any details about the incident which killed Mr Molloy, a source told the News Letter it is not thought to have involved either a traffic accident or an attack.

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Today, the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust told the News Letter that the dead man was 33-year-old Richard Molloy.

It is further thought that two of the men had been travelling on Irish passports, with the third travelling on a UK one.

The Irish embassy said it is aware of the incident and is providing consular assistance to the dead man’s family.

Whilst the Kevin Bell Trust said it was involved in helping return the body, it could shed little more light on exactly what had taken place.

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The trust was set up in memory of Kevin Bell, a Newry man killed in a hit-and-run in New York in 2013, and aids any families on the island of Ireland with the burden of returning the bodies of loved ones who die overseas.

Rob McAdam, a community worker specialising in addiction and mental health issues, said: “My thoughts and prayers are with the families receiving devastating news in the Ardoyne community tonight.

“Knowing this community they will rally around and support the family at this very difficult time. Heartbreaking doesn’t cut it tonight.”

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