Balla shooting victim was gunman’s cousin

Balla shooting victim was gunman’s cousin


Edwin McGreal

The man charged after a bizarre shooting in Balla on May 31 is a cousin of the woman who was shot, The Mayo News can reveal.
Forty-seven year old Vincent O’Donnell appeared before Harristown District Court in Castlerea on Friday morning last, where he was remanded in custody to appear at the same court on July 1.
O’Donnell, of Knocknabrone, Mayo Abbey is charged under Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act after shop assistant Dympna Walshe was shot twice in the legs in Costcutter in Balla at 6.30pm approximately on Tuesday, May 31.
It has emerged that not only are the two known to each other, they are cousins. Both grew up in close proximity to each other in Mayo Abbey.
Ms Walsh, who is in her early 50s and a mother of four sons, is still in Mayo General Hospital recovering from the injuries she received in the incident, for which surgery was required.
Vincent O’Donnell walked into the shop on the evening in question, carrying a full-length firearm. He proceeded to approach the counter and allegedly fired two shots at Dympna Walsh.
After fleeing the scene, Mr O’Donnell was arrested after 8pm in a rural public house roughly three miles away.
Defending solicitor Myles Gilvarry told Judge Geoffrey Browne that he had no objection to his client being remanded in custody on this occasion, but that an application for bail may be made on July 1.