Local Man Wondering When It’s Socially Acceptable To Unfriend Deceased Friend On Facebook

WATERFORD city resident Gavin O’Neill is all at sea as he struggles to find help in the quest to discover when it is deemed okay to defriend someone on Facebook who has passed away, without incurring anyone’s wrath.

After performing a routine assessment of what Facebook friends he would like to cease being friends with, he came across the profile of Dermot McCarthy, a former school friend who sadly passed away in 2013.

“I don’t want to ruffle any feathers, ya know, but I’m a practical, rational guy and my Facebook friends are at 101 people last count, and Dermot, God rest him, well, I’m not getting any Candy Crush invites any time soon am I?” Gavin explained to a work colleague over pints last night, only to be branded ‘a soulless monster who deserved to be waterboarded using acid’.

Gavin has speculated to a trusted inner circle that he suspects that had Dermot been a complete prick in life, efforts to defriend would have received little opposition, but sadly Dermot had been very active in the community and often volunteered in soup kitchens.

“I’m never going to talk to him again am I, and of course I miss the guy, but I don’t feel I need him there on Facebook. What is the correct protocol?” Gavin queried in an email to Facebook, but is still awaiting a response.

The 37-year-old father of three has admitted he is reluctant to simply defriend Dermot without confirming it is socially acceptable, for fear someone will notice and thus immediately compare the IT consultant to the bastard love child of Hitler and Charles Manson.

“It’s been three years, do I wait until five, six, seven years? Or when his wife passes away eventually? No, I’ll just cancel my account, that’s easier and I won’t be called a heartless when I do, or will I? Christ,” Gavin told WWN, unable to come to any sort of conclusion.