Murder trial jury told to 'forget what they think about Conor McGregor'

A trial jury has been told to "forget what they think about Conor McGregor", after hearing that a murder accused said he had hit a 26-year-old man like the mixed martial arts star during an altercation.

Maurice Boland (37) of Bridgeview Close, Tallow, Co Waterford has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Cian Gallagher at Barrack Street in the town on November 10, 2022.

The Central Criminal Court heard that the incident took place on Wednesday November 2, going into the early hours of November 3 and that Mr Gallagher died in hospital eight days later.

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The 12 jurors were told on Wednesday that Mr Gallagher, who was working on a project in Co Waterford, “went down very quickly" when he was punched by the defendant.

Opening the State's case today, Bernard Condon SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the jury that Cian Gallagher was a "hardworking man with his whole life ahead of him".

Counsel said that Mr Gallagher was "going about his everyday business" and had been drinking from around 7pm in Tallow, as he was entitled to do after a day’s work.

He said that Mr Boland had been drinking in The Classroom bar in Lismore from 7pm that evening, before moving on to The Red House pub until about 10pm. He then got a bus from Lismore to Tallow at about midnight.

He said the State's case would be that the victim was walking down the road when he was "set upon" by Maurice Boland, who was in his mid 30s and was a decade older than Cian Gallagher.

Mr Condon told the jury that they would see CCTV footage of their interactions as Mr Boland crossed the road and engaged with Mr Gallagher. He said the footage will show the accused approaching Mr Gallagher and walking around him.

He told the jury they would see Mr Boland punching Mr Gallagher, who he said went down very quickly and later died. He said they would see the punch on CCTV footage, but added; “It’s you who have to decide who did what."

“These are two people who should have never collided in life, but they did and as a consequence of that, Cian Gallagher is now dead,” counsel told the jury.

He told the jury they would hear from witnesses how Mr Boland appeared to be aggressive that night, and at one stage threatened to beat a man up, if he didn’t buy him a pint back.

Counsel said the jury would hear from State Pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster, that the injury caused to Cian Gallagher was so catastrophic that, after being taken to hospital, he subsequently died on November 10, some eight days later.

“You’ll hear how at the scene, that Mr Boland was heard saying things - you might think by way of bragging - something along the lines of “I hit him like Conor McGregor”, Mr Condon told the jury.

However, counsel told the panel members: "Forget what you may think about Conor McGregor, as it was the manner in which he was saying it, and the way he punched the victim that you should focus on, but it is up to you what weight you put on comments like that".

Mr Condon said the jury must focus on the intention of Mr Boland when he struck Mr Gallagher.

The trial, which continues on Thursday before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of seven men and five women, is expected to conclude by the end of next week.

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