Man stripped to pants and dived into river

Superintendent Colm Nevin said Gerard McConville (24) of Beech Court, jumped from a bridge while he was drunk at the Rory Gallagher Festival on June 5 2010.

The court heard a large crowd gathered to watch the incident as gardai helped the defendant to safety.

He was found hiding naked from the waist up under whin bushes after a traffic accident in a separate incident on June 1, 2015.

He admitted being drunk and a danger to himself and others at Allingham Bridge on June 5 2010 at the festival.

Mr McConville also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in Ballyshannon on May 30 2009, and possession of drugs. Superintendent Nevin said gardai saw a car spinning and revving. The defendant also narrowly missed two marked vehicles.

Also on June 1 2015 at 4.44 am, gardai were called to the scene of a traffic accident. They saw a car hit a wall after it failed to complete a left turn from a slip road. Two people were taken to hospital. Gardai found McConville hiding under some whin bushes close by. He was naked from the waist up and suffering from hypothermia and brought to Sligo Hospital.

He was charged with dangerous driving, having no insurance and drunk driving.

Defence solicitor Rory O’Brien said his client was 19-20 when most of the offences happened. He added that Mr McConville would not be returning to the festival.

Judge Kevin Kilrane queried why he could not come to the Republic without going crazy.

He fined McConville E200 for dangerous driving on May 30 2009 and banned him from driving for two years. He fined McConville E300 for having no insurance on June 1 last and banned him for another two years concurrent with the previous sentence. The State agreed to reduce a charge of dangerous driving to a lesser charge of careless driving, fined E200 and banned for two years, to run concurrently.