Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PIER TRAGEDY DAD OVER DRINK DRIVE LIMIT
5 family members died after car slid into water Father may have been intoxicated reveals doctor Heroic swimmer tells how he saved baby’s life
THE driver of a car in which five people died after it slid off a pier was three times over the limit.
Sean Mcgrotty, 49, was one of five family members killed in the tragedy at Buncrana, Co Donegal, in March last year.
Pathologist Dr Catriona Dillon told an inquest yesterday the amount of alcohol he consumed “may indicate a level of intoxication at the time of death”.
Davitt Walsh gave evidence of swimming out to the stricken Audi Q7 to save fourmonth-old baby Rioghnachann who was handed to him from the sinking vehicle.
BUNCRANA pier hero Davitt Walsh yesterday told how he held the hand of one of the children before the car vanished beneath the waters of Lough Swilly.
Giving evidence at the inquest into the deaths of five people at the Co Donegal slipway, Mr Walsh spoke of hearing screams for help from the Audi Q7 after it slid into the water on March 20 last year.
In emotional evidence, on the first day of the hearing, he told how within seconds of him grabbing baby Rioghnach-ann Mcgrotty from her father’s arms water “gushed” into the car “like a wave” causing it to sink in seconds.
Five members of the same family died in the incident.
They were Sean Mcgrotty his two young sons, Mark, 12, and eight-yearold Evan, as well as Mr Mcgrotty’s mother- in-law Ruth Daniels and her teenage daughter Jodie Lee Tracey.
Davitt Walsh, who swam out to the Audi as it “bobbed” in the water, recalled how he saw Mr Mcgrotty use his elbow to smash the driver’s side window.
AFLOAT
Hey then passed baby Rioghnachann to Davitt.
Yesterday’s inquest at the Lake of Shadows Hotel in Buncrana heard more details of the crucial seconds as Mr Walsh struggled to save more people from the vehicle.
He told how Mr Mcgrotty managed to sit up on the edge of the car’s windowsill as one of the children tried to get out.
Mr Walsh said water was “seeping” into the vehicle at that point and it was still afloat, but that Mr Mcgrotty sat back down as it was tilting.
He added one of the two boys was trying to “climb out” over the back of his father but appeared to become trapped.
Mr Walsh told the inquest he managed to get hold of the child, saying he “still had his hand” when the water rushed into the vehicle, causing it to sink.
Telling how he himself was being sucked in as the car sank, he added: “The last thing I seen was that young lad, but I had to let go.”
A clearly emotional Mr Walsh told the inquest it was “really difficult to talk about this”.
As family members listened to the testimony, Coroner Dr Denis Mccauley said it was “harrowing” for the hero to have to recount what happened to the lad he tried so hard to save.
The hearing also heard Mr Mcgrotty was over the drink-drive limit. His alcohol level was revealed by a consultant pathologist who outlined details of an examination she carried out on his body in the wake of the tragedy.
Katrina Dillon said the level of alcohol she measured was 159mg per 100mls of blood, more than three times the legal limit of 50mg.
She added it “may indicate a level of intoxication at the time of death”.
Quizzed by a lawyer the pathologist said she could not speculate as to the “level of impairment” as it would “depend on numerous factors”.
The afternoon’s evidence heard from Donegal County Council engineer John Mclaughlin who was pressed on the lack of cleaning of the algae at the pier.
A barrister told him a report from consultants the council employed to look into pier safety after the tragedy concluded Buncrana could have been cleaned for €400. Mr Mclaughlin said it was council practice to clean it in the summer season when the Lough Swilly ferry was operating but this had not been done since July 2015.
The engineer also confirmed no signs warning of the slippery surface have been erected.
It was put to him the council should either clean the pier regularly or close and lock the gate at its entrance. Mr Mclaughlin replied the authority will take on board the coroner’s recommendations.
He added it had been decided to fit gates to the slipway to stop cars getting in the way as vehicles came off the ferry.
However, it was also decided by the council that the gate should kept open when the ferry was not operating as it was a public slipway which people needed access to. John
Leech, chief executive of Irish Water Safety, said he had contacted ferry companies in Ireland and discovered very few have gates at slipways.
He added: “Slipways are there to be used”.
Earlier he warned most people were not fully aware of the sea’s danger.
He said: “You do need to inform people of these risks, use various types of signage.
“Slipways are used for ferries, and bringing your car on to a slipway is a dangerous thing to do and should not be done.”
He said safety information should be displayed to warn tourists and others at Buncrana they may slip.
The safety chief added: “Whatever actions we take should be proportionate to that risk, that we should be seen to do everything that is reasonable to prevent accidents.” He said the Buncrana tragedy was the only accident of its kind he had encountered in more than 17 years in the field.
He added it would not be normal to wash slipways each month and many around the country had regular users.
Mr Leech said: “This [Buncrana] is used quite a lot for recreational use, so you are going to have to consider increasing the number of washes.”
Coroner Dr Mccauley warned the jury against finding “blame”, saying the inquest’s purpose is to find “facts” only.
The hearing was also told how extra signage now exists in the area regarding the dangers of the slipway.