Joe Loughnane (38) was born and raised in Galway, where he currently lives with his partner Emma. He works as an underwriter for an insurance company. Joe has a law degree and a master’s in human rights, and since his university years, he has been involved in activism. He has always sought justice and equality in society for those who are disadvantaged and oppressed. He is the middle child of five; his mother is originally from Pakistan, and his late father was White Irish. Joe is an irreligionist, and although his parents both came from devout religious backgrounds – his mother Muslim and his father Catholic – neither Joe nor his four siblings were brought up to follow any faith.
An incredibly sad tragedy occurred in February 2025 when Joe’s younger brother Adam died by suicide after drowning himself in the River Corrib in Galway. On the day in question, Adam contacted his mental health support worker in a distressed state, who contacted the mental health services at University College Hospital Galway (UHG). Adam was told to present at the A&E department, so he packed an overnight bag, and his support worker drove him to hospital. Once there, a triage nurse spoke to him at A&E, and Adam made it clear that he wanted to throw himself into the river. At that point, the hospital wanted him to be checked by the mental health team, who were otherwise occupied. He was told to take a seat and wait rather than being taken to a side room and monitored. No attempts were made to contact his next of kin. No reference checks were completed, which would have revealed his history, including admission at UHG in 2017 following a previous suicide attempt and his time as an outpatient at Lá Nua Day Hospital Mental Health Centre Galway for several years up until the COVID pandemic. Adam was seen crying by other patients in the A&E and after having waited for over an hour and a half left the hospital completely unsupervised. He then made his way to the nearby river and died. A few hours later, the police informed Joe that Adam had been found in the river and went to the hospital with his mother and another of his brothers to identify Adam’s body. The shock, grief and trauma were indescribable. While Joe bears no ill will towards any individual in the A&E department who saw Adam that day, he is upset that the system in place could not have prevented his death. He knows the health system is under-resourced and staff are overworked, but he also wants answers and has successfully sought a hospital enquiry into Adam’s death. He wants justice for his brother and to see radical changes in the Irish mental health system. Thousands of people have signed a petition organised by Joe, calling for changes to the admissions policy at UHG for mental health emergencies, which he will send to the Minister for Health and the Minister of State for Mental Health.
The Loughnane family were considered respectable, well-educated and middle-class to the outside world. Robert, the children’s father, was a lecturer in mathematics and computing. But behind closed doors, it was a different story. All five children constantly endured physical and psychological abuse from their father, including severe beatings with a leather belt until their skin was nearly raw. In addition to witnessing their father abuse their mother, he controlled every aspect of their lives. They were forbidden from playing outside, prohibited from school trips, and discouraged from making friends. Robert’s paranoia meant that he saw everyone and everything as a threat to his survival. Rather than mellowing as he aged, his behaviour intensified, with police often becoming involved when neighbours reported his aggression and harassment towards them.
Joe’s brother Adam had a very disarming nature. He was gentle and sensitive, and in Joe’s words, ‘there was no badness in him.’ Although well-educated and well-read, he maintained a humble side and was never condescending. He never put anyone down. Academically, Adam pushed himself hard all his life and worked diligently at school. He desperately wanted to achieve so that he could please their father. After school, Adam studied mathematics and science at university, and this could have been his chance to break free from his father’s clutches. At this stage, Joe and another older sibling had also moved out of the family home and found independence and peace. However, Adam chose to remain living at home while attending his daily lectures. Their father viewed socialising as a sign of weakness, so Adam avoided college life and didn’t participate in any student union events – and therefore there was no clubbing, drinking or girlfriends. Being intelligent and hard-working resulted in him obtaining a first-class honours degree. After finishing university, though, things took a downward spiral. Adam was 22 by then, and he didn’t want to get a job or leave home as he saw it as his duty to stay to ‘protect’ their mother and run the house. He soon became depressed and signed on for disability benefit.
As Adam got older, he realised his life lacked direction, further affecting his low self-worth. Although their father’s health deteriorated and he was diagnosed with advanced kidney disease, his vicious tongue continued to criticise everything Adam said and did. He even started brainwashing Adam against his siblings, and it worked for a while. This relentless psychological abuse was always in direct conflict with Adam’s naturally polite and placid character. After years of abuse, Adam’s patience couldn’t take any more, and one day, he snapped, assaulting his father. Despite Robert only sustaining minor injuries, Adam was placed on stringent bail conditions, including having to move out of the family home.
He lived with Joe for a year before a homeless charity helped him to find accommodation. They also assigned him a mental health support worker. His life ticked by in survival mode, but he was heartbroken and despondent and bore the shame of assaulting his father despite the mitigating circumstances. Over three years, the court case kept being adjourned, and although Robert died in 2023, the charge wasn’t dropped, despite Joe and other family members providing evidence to support the extent of the abuse they endured from their father. This evidence was never factored into any decision-making about Adam’s situation, and the case entailed over a dozen court hearings. A week before Adam died, he attended court and was advised to accept the minimum assault charge. The matter was then adjourned until July 2025, and the prospect of receiving a conviction weighed heavily on Adam to the point where he couldn’t speak of anything else.
In Ireland, there is no other place to go except A&E if someone feels suicidal. Joe hopes his campaign will bring about change and end this practice. He firmly believes there should be separate admission units in public hospitals for people experiencing a mental health emergency. Unless the system changes, Joe believes that what happened to Adam will continue to happen to others. He feels that no lessons have been learned from the past and that there are no plans to change its current practice.
Sadly, Galway has a history of people taking their own lives in its surrounding sea. So many lives have been lost that Joe knows of no one who hasn’t attended a vigil for someone who has died this way. Every hospital in Ireland has empty spaces in its buildings. Many empty Health Service Executive buildings around the country have closed due to a lack of funding. Every major hospital has an Adult Mental Health Unit, which is often understaffed due to burnout, and as a result, treatments mainly consist of over-medicating people. In the community, there is a lack of public and private counselling, and every GP practice is overstretched and overbooked, leaving many people to suffer in silence.
Joe feels that Ireland needs health centres to have a designated mental health pod where a trained mental health professional can see and support people who are struggling. A service like this would distinguish between common and moderate mental health problems and those who are suffering more profound and enduring illnesses. This way, mental health emergencies could be dealt with more effectively than chaotic A&E departments, which are not equipped to provide such support.
Joe and Adam always remembered each other’s birthdays and would meet up to celebrate and talk endlessly. Likewise, during shared Zoom meetings with their other siblings, there was always lots of fun and laughter. Adam spent his last Christmas with Joe, Emma and other family members. He was happy and relaxed on Christmas Day and enjoyed watching Wallace and Gromit on TV as he loved animated films. His death came as a complete shock to Joe, who had seen him the week before when he accompanied him to a court hearing. Little did he know that would be the last time he would see Adam alive. Although Adam had previously tried to end his life, Joe remembers being in the car with him once afterwards when ‘Vincent’ by Don McClean was being played on the radio. This song, with its memorable melody of Starry, starry night, refers to the suicide of Vincent Van Gough. As the song played, Adam turned to Joe and said, ‘I won’t be taking that course of action’. Consequently, Joe was reassured that Adam meant what he said.
After Adam’s death, it looked like the Legal Justice System was still intending to go ahead with the case and convict him posthumously. Joe stepped in and contacted the court, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and voiced his anger and dismay about the unjustness of the situation. A private hearing was held. The judge accepted the application to change his plea to not guilty, and after an hour’s deliberation, the DPP, via the prosecution, accepted the new plea and withdrew their case. Joe and his family were pleased the judge acknowledged that the court system had treated Adam rather shabbily. The great sadness is that Adam died while caught up in the throes of injustice and could have easily ended up with a criminal conviction. Joe is now at least able to find comfort in the fact that Adam’s record, while alive and after his passing, will always remain unblemished.
Adam wrote beautiful poetry, idioms, comments, suggestions, and contemplations. He put so much effort into everything he wrote. Joe wants Adam’s writings published and recited at poetry readings and spoken word events. I have every faith that Joe will do this and much more. Here is a man whose determination and willpower will never rest until a better health service is in place that helps people in mental health emergencies. All of Joe’s actions beautifully capture the essence of his brotherly love for Adam and his quest to ensure his brother didn’t die in vain. The power of this love will never be severed.
