This article is from page 2 of the 2008-07-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A VERDICT of accidental death has been returned in the case of a man who died following a road traffic ac- cident on N18 dual carriageway near Portdrine, last year.
The Coroner’s Court in Ennis heard last Wednesday how 69-year-old Michael O’Donoghue died after he was struck by a car across the road from Setright’s Tavern on November 27, 2007.
Mr O’Donoghue had just been dropped off by bus at the road and was on his way to visit his son. He was struck by a car travelling on the N18 towards Shannon.
Mr O’Donoghue was pronounced
dead at the scene by a doctor trav- elling in a passing ambulance. Mr O’Donoghue lived at 120 Hyde Road, Limerick.
Directing the jury, County Corner Isobel O’Dea said that in view of the medical evidence, the only appro- priate verdict was one of accidental death. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
Ms O’Dea_ described Mr O’Donoghue’s death as a “sad and tragic end to a Sunday evening out for a couple of pints”.
Mr O’Donoghue had been out with his friend Vincent Kinsella for a few drinks in Limerick before the acci- dent occurred.
In his deposition, Mr Kinsella told
the court that Michael was in “good form” on the night in question and that he departed the bus at Setraight’s at around 7.45pm.
Patrick O’Gorman, who had been in Setright’s Tavern, left the pub at 7.40pm and saw a car stopped in the fast lane of the Shannon side of the dual carriageway. He told the court that he “saw a young man on his mo- bile phone in a panicked state and a woman get out of the car. They start- ed shouting and screaming and said something about hitting a man.”
Mr O’Gorman alerted the emer- gency services and along with others in the pub, helped set up a safety pe- rimeter around the scene of the ac- cident.
Garda Batt Duggan who was called to the scene noted, “extensive dam- age to the front of the car, the wind- screen was smashed and the road was wet because it had rained earlier on in the evening”.
Mr Duggan interviewed the driver of the car and conducted a breatha- lyzer test, which she passed.
Dr Peter Faul told the court that the cause of death was shock due to sec- ondary injuries consistent with being involved in a road traffic accident.
Ms O’Dea expressed her sympa- thies to Mr O’Donoghue’s family and praised the efforts of those who helped at the scene. Inspector John Galvin also expressed his sympathies to the family of Mr O’Donoghue.