Anton McNulty
THE Coroner for south Mayo is set to appeal a High Court decision to allow a report by the Health and Safety Authority into the death of Achill woman, Aisling Gallagher to be entered into her inquest.
Last month, Mr Justice Liam McKechnie ruled that the Coroner for south Mayo, Mr John O’Dwyer was ‘legally incorrect’ to exclude the HSA report from the inquest. The report reveals that the surface of the road at the time of the accident did not meet NRA regulations but its inclusion was objected to by Mayo County Council and Mr O’Dwyer ruled to exclude the report from the inquest.
However, The Mayo News has learned that Mr O’Dwyer is to appeal the High Court ruling, a decision which has angered the Gallagher family. Tommy Gallagher, the father of Aisling Gallagher - who died on December 22, 2004 following a collision on the N59 Mulranny to Newport road - told The Mayo News that their legal team informed them of the appeal on Friday and instead of looking ahead to the inquest, he said this will ‘prolong their agony’.
“Obviously this appeal will now drag on the process and prolong the agony for us for at least another year and it is five years as it is. We were looking forward to the inquest taking place this year but this appeal puts an end to that. This is prolonging the agony on the family and the delay is having an impact on us all.”
There was some better news for the Gallagher family when the Oireachtas Transport Committee agreed to allow them along with two other families the right of audience after initially refusing to meet with them. The meeting had been recommended by the EU’s Petition Committee who met the families in Brussels in the European Parliament last November.
A date has yet to be fixed for this meeting.
