Tributes paid to man struck by Garda car

Tributes have continued to pour in for Philip Hogarty, the man who died after being struck by a Garda car early on New Year's Day.

Friends and chess colleagues wrote yesterday of their sadness on hearing of the death of Mr Hogarty (19) in scores of messages posted on his Bebo site and on the website of the Irish Chess Union.

Mr Hogarty, from Jobstown in southwest Dublin, was a talented chess player who served as chairman of the ICU for the past year and a half.

A postmortem was carried out yesterday. The results are expected to show he died of head injuries and trauma sustained when he was struck by the Garda car on the Blessington Road, near the Cheeverstown Road junction, at about 2.30am on New Year's Day.

His death is being investigated by the independent Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, which said yesterday its work was ongoing.

Mr Hogarty had just alighted from a Nitelink bus and was walking home when the accident occurred at a section of road currently narrowed for works. It is believed he may have ended up in the path of the car after jumping over a roadside bollard. The Garda car, in which there were two officers, was not involved in a pursuit at the time.

Mr Hogarty's mother, Kate, and his sisters, Emma and Fiona, led the tributes on his Bebo site with a short message "to the best brother and son ever, you will be forever in our thoughts and hearts".

A message from Mr Hogarty's grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins described him as "a testament to all that is right and good. Our world will be a sadder place without you.

"You enriched our lives with your quick wit and sense of humour (while taking all our money playing poker). Your mischievous smile could never hide your caring, sensitive and giving nature. You will live forever in our memories."

"Life will not be the same without your smile, the rolling of your eyes, your ability to make everyone smile and become friends and the very loving hugs you always gave," wrote one of his many friends.

Stephen Stokes, vice-chairman of the ICU, said Mr Hogarty was a true ambassador for chess who had great wisdom and maturity, well beyond his years.

"Chess was Phil's life, he lived it, he breathed it, it was his passion. He was a lovely person, a total gentleman. He was always trying to make people welcome, particularly the younger crowd."

Mr Hogarty worked the night shift in a security company and was planning to resume his studies at Dublin Institute of Technology, said Mr Stokes, who last saw him at the Leinster senior chess championships on Saturday.

Rathmines chess club said it had lost a cherished member and a treasured friend.

"Philip was an extremely good chess player, having recently achieved expert status with a rating of 2069. He will be terribly missed by all members of the club, all the very many other chess players he knew, and Irish chess in general. We are all in shock at this terrible tragedy."