From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The mother of a young Galway woman who received life-changing injuries in a firework attack has made an impassioned plea for a clampdown on their use.

This comes as Dublin man Alex Byrne (23) was convicted of the assault causing harm to Katie Marnell on October 22, 2021, and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Byrne was sentenced before Galway Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, having pleaded guilty to setting off a firework in Eyre Square which left his victim blinded and with a series of life-altering injuries.

Speaking to the Galway City Tribune, Katie’s mother Cora said no other family should have to suffer as they have.

“Eyre Square was lawless and as parents, we find it very hard to accept that people were able to let off fireworks in a public area,” said Ms Marnell.

Reading a victim impact statement in court this week, 20-year-old Katie described how life as she knew it had come to “an abrupt halt’ – her dream of becoming a surgeon stolen as she went from being fit and healthy to a life of “ceaseless pain”.

Photo: Katie Marnell (centre), pictured with her sisters Sorcha and Emma last week. (Photo supplied by family).

This is a shortened preview version of this story.  See the January 13 edition of the Galway City Tribune for coverage of the court case; Katie’s victim impact statement; Byrne’s apology in court and the family’s reaction. You can support our journalism by buying a digital edition HERE.