Man seriously injured in hit and run incident

The man in his twenties who was seriously injured on New Year"s Day last after a hit and run incident, had just over a month earlier been in South Africa as part of the Niall Mellon building blitz.Dermot Hennessy, 24, an electrician fromk Castletown Finea, sustained serious head injuries when he was struck by a vehicle on Austin Friars Street at around 3.10 a.m. on Thursday morning.Gardaí and ambulance services were immediately called to the scene, and the injured man was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar for treatment, where his condition was described as critical.A 27 year old man was arrested by Mullingar Gardaí and questioned about the accident, but was later released. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to the incident.Gardaí would not comment about reports that the driver of the car was a non-Irish national.Mr. Hennessy was a part of the Westmeath contingent which travelled to South Africa in November, to take on the Niall Mellon Building Blitz.A special Mass was celebrated in his native parish on Saturday morning, where Castletown parishioners prayed for an improvement in Mr. Hennessy"s condition.On Tuesday morning of this week, a spokesperson for the Health Service Executive said that Mr. Hennessy remains at the Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar, with his condition still described as critical.