Inquest jurors say driver in Buncrana Pier Tragedy died by misadventure

By Michael McHugh, Press Association

The driver of a car which plunged off a pier in Ireland and killed five people died by "misadventure", inquest jurors said.

Sean McGrotty, 49, was over the drink-drive limit when his 4x4 vehicle slid down a treacherous and algae-covered slipway in Buncrana, Co Donegal, in March last year, a previous hearing of the inquest was told.

Evan McGrotty, eight, his father Sean, 12-year-old brother Mark, grandmother Ruth Daniels, 59, and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie Lee Daniels died when their SUV sank after sliding off the "slippery as ice" surface.

Mr McGrotty's four-month-old baby Rioghnach-Ann was saved by an heroic rescuer who entered the freezing waters of Lough Swilly in response to the distressed cries of the children and pleas for help from their father.

The jury's foreman said: "The finding was that death was due to drowning. "Cause of death was death by misadventure."

Misadventure means jurors think there was risk associated with the events of the day and that somebody had done something that increased the risk of the event happening, the coroner said.

The spokesman for the five men and four women on the jury urged the Irish Water Safety promotional organisation to take a prominent role in advising and working with all interested parties on implementing best international practice for safety on all slipways and piers.

He added: "We hope that this can be implemented as quickly as possible in the light of the tragedy."

A post-mortem examination found that Mr McGrotty was more than three times over the legal drink-driving limit, a pathologist told the inquest in Buncrana on Wednesday.

He was found to have consumed 159 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, when the drink-drive limit is only 50.

There were no signs at the slipway warning of the dangers of slipping and a gate designed to control crowds using a summer ferry service in the popular tourist spot was left open.

It was used by people watching the sun going down despite dangers highlighted during the inquest.
The car was seen drifting out into Lough Swilly and bobbing around 20 metres from shore as children screamed for help before it finally sank three metres deep, eye witnesses said.

The inquest was told the doors of the car would not budge when a diver tried them and a window was only partly open, suggesting the electronics failed at some point due to the water.

A public safety expert who gave evidence urged drivers to carry equipment to break the car window and wanted information on escaping from water included in instruction manuals.

John Leech from the Irish Water Safety promotional body said those becalmed often had only a minute to take action like undoing seatbelts and rolling down windows before exiting safely.