Man (70s) found dead in Waterford named as Waterford crystal worker
Olivia Kelleher
A man in his 70s found dead following an incident at a residential property in Waterford on Friday has been named locally as former Waterford crystal worker Pat Fitzgerald.
Gardaí and the emergency services attended at the scene in St Catherine’s Grange in the city shortly after 2pm on Friday.
Mr Fitzgerald, who was a widower, was found unresponsive at the property. He was transferred to University Hospital Waterford for treatment. He was pronounced dead at the hospital yesterday.
A man in his 30s has appeared in court in connection with his death.
Cllr Donal Barry of Waterford city south worked alongside Mr Fitzgerald for many years. The Independent councillor said that Pat was a trade union representative at the factory.
“Pat started his career in Waterford Crystal as a blower. He was then a full time union official in the plant," he said.
"There was 3,500 of us (employees) there at one stage and Pat was highly respected among all the workforce and even by and management. He did an awful lot of good work with the union then.
"He was a fantastic union official and was well known throughout the country in the former ATGWU. He was (involved in the sit in) until the very end.”
Mr Fitzgerald was also a former branch chairman of UNITE, formerly the ATGWU. He was the chair of the 364 branch of the UNITE trade union in 2009 when Waterford Crystal workers occupied the plant.
The sit in began on January 30th, 2009, after the company’s receiver shut down manufacturing after running out of cash. The sit in lasted close to two months and ended after workers agreed to split a payment of €10 million.
Meanwhile, the Coroner and the Office of the State Pathologist have been notified and a post-mortem examination will be carried out. A technical and forensic examination at the scene has been completed.
An incident room has been established at Waterford Garda Station.
Investigating gardaí are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information is asked to contact Waterford Garda Station 051 305 300 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
