A PRIEST at the funeral of one of the leading developers in the country has queried if he was singled out for unfair treatment.
John O’Dolan was found dead at his home in Galway on Friday morning. The 51-year-old had extensive property developments in Ireland and abroad.
Yesterday at his funeral in Galway, his lifelong friend Fr Peter Finnerty raised the question whether he may have been “singled out” over his dealings.
Hundreds of mourners packed into the Church of Christ the King in Salthill. The previous evening hundreds more queued for hours to sympathise with Mr O’Dolan’s wife, Eileen, and their children, Fiona, Róisín and Robert, at the family home at Blake’s Hill between Salthill and Barna.
His family had requested that, instead of flowers, donations be given to Console, the charity which supports people bereaved through suicide.
“I would like to ask the question – was John in any way singled out? Was he treated in any way unfair..,” said Fr Finnerty, a close friend of Mr O’Dolan from their schooldays at St Paul’s in Raheny in Dublin.
“John was under immense stress and strain that led to deep depression. And I think that John felt he had let his friends down. That is my view, because he loved everybody and would never let anybody down,’ said Fr Finnerty.
Mr O’Dolan is also survived by his father Dr Robert O’Dolan (95) of Wexford.