Glenveagh and KDK Scaffolding fined combined €190,000 over fatal Wicklow site accident

By Darragh McCann, The Wicklow People

Two construction companies have been fined a combined €190,000 over the workplace death of experienced bricklayer Gerry O’Connell, who fell through an unprotected gap in scaffolding at a Wicklow building site.

Glenveagh Contracting Limited and KDK Scaffolding Limited appeared at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing.

Glenveagh pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 12 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, contrary to Section 77(9)(a), while KDK pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 15(3) of the same Act.

Inspector David O’Connell, on behalf of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), the enforcement body for health and safety in Irish workplaces, gave evidence that he began investigating the tragic accident on December 10, 2019, after being informed of the incident the previous day.

Counsel for the prosecution, James Kelly, said Sligo native Mr O’Connell fell through an unprotected gap in scaffolding while working at the Marina Village apartments in Greystones. He suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at St Vincent’s Hospital several days later, on December 12.

Photographs taken by the HSA inspector were handed into the court, with Mr Kelly stating that Mr O’Connell fell through a gap measuring 40cm.

Inspector O’Connell explained that, under the Scaffolding Guidelines 2019, the gap should have measured no more than 22.5cm. He added that there were four ways in which the companies could have safeguarded the scaffolding.

Following the incident, Glenveagh, the main contractor on the building site, took statements from workers before the HSA shut down the site until it could be deemed safe to continue work.

Glenveagh told HSA investigators: “It was a bad error, it was our mistake,” with the deceased working as a bricklayer on Block E, which “could have been safer, with solutions available, just not in place”.

The court heard that both companies cooperated fully with the investigation before being summoned to court, where they each entered guilty pleas.

Mr Kelly said the maximum penalty for both offences is a fine of €3 million or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years.

In a victim impact statement, Gerry O’Connell’s brother, James O’Connell, told the court he wanted to “give a voice to the impact” his brother’s death had on the family.

He recalled speaking to Gerry by phone on the evening before the incident, describing him as being “in good form” after taking his daughter, Megan, on a trip to Belfast.

Mr O’Connell said the family was left in a state of shock and disbelief when they received news of the accident.

“I rushed from the UK, feeling helpless and hoping a miracle would happen,” he said.

He recalled standing at his brother’s graveside a week before Christmas as he was laid to rest beside their parents.

“I was emptied and hollowed out inside,” he said.

Mr O’Connell described Gerry as a brother he looked up to and loved, adding that he had been a young, healthy and experienced bricklayer who had worked around the world. “He gave his life to it,” he said.

He described the grief and loss as “gut wrenching” and urged those responsible to reflect on their failings.

In her victim impact statement, Gerry O’Connell’s widow, Mary O’Connell, told the court that the past seven years had been the hardest of her life.

She said she and her daughter travelled from Sligo to Wicklow to see Gerry for what would be the last time.

“Within a few hours our lives changed forever,” she said.

Mrs O’Connell said she and her daughter made the decision to donate Gerry’s organs .“Even in death he passed on the gift of life,” she said.

She told the court that holidays were no longer the same and that Megan had missed so many milestones without her father.

“Now we can get some closure. Gerry is with us. May he rest in peace,” Mrs O’Connell said.

Senior counsel for Glenveagh, Ronan Kennedy, stated that Glenveagh employees showed Inspector O’Connell around the site, with his clients also providing safety, inspection and scaffolding certificates.

He also noted that weekly safety meetings took place and that KDK inspected the scaffolding on a weekly basis using “advanced scaffolders”.

Mr Kennedy remarked that the prosecution relied on a scaffolding expert during the proceedings who had also worked on the Marina Village project in 2018 and found no faults.

Stephen Garvey, CEO of Glenveagh Homes.

Senior counsel for KDK, Elaine Morgan, said her client’s firm is a “well established company”, working with “top tier construction companies” on large-scale projects, while also engaging with various auditing bodies.

Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin questioned why the issue had not been identified before the death of the father-of-one.

“There were lots of qualified people. Why wasn’t it noticed?” the judge asked.

In mitigation, Mr Kennedy pointed out that Glenveagh Group CEO Stephen Garvey was present in court, where he read a letter of apology to the family of the deceased.

The court heard that Glenveagh, which was established in 2017, is one of Ireland’s leading home builders, employing around 600 people, and that the company is now suffering from “grave embarrassment” despite having “an exemplary health and safety record”.

Judge Ní Chúlacháin remarked: “It is unfortunate that you didn’t introduce this culture prior to the tragedy.”

In mitigation, senior counsel for Glenveagh said the company had made charitable donations totalling €300,000 in 2024 and 2025.

Ms Morgan said her client never sought a trial date, but did not enter a guilty plea until all the evidence had been reviewed.

She argued that the court “must look at the culpability of the actors involved”, adding: “There is no suggestion these companies put profit before safety.”

In her judgment, Judge Ní Chúlacháin noted that both companies had entered guilty pleas, and that the gap in the scaffolding measured 40cm when the maximum permitted gap should have been 22.5cm.

She said the harm caused by the offending was “at its highest”.

Addressing the O’Connell family, Judge Ní Chúlacháin said: “You head out to work in your red van and later that day your life is turned upside down. I cannot make up for the loss in your life. There is nothing I can do but bring these proceedings to an end.”

The judge found that Glenveagh, as the main contractor, bore responsibility for the safety of the site. She noted that no issues had previously been identified, despite both companies having considerable experience and expertise together with exemplary health and safety records.

Judge Ní Chúlacháin accepted that the incident was not the result of companies cutting corners but described the failure as “a glaring, literal hole” through which Mr O’Connell fell.

The judge said she had to approach the matter in a realistic way. She noted that KDK could not afford a €3 million fine and said: “I’m not trying to put employees out of work.”

However, she said Glenveagh was a successful and profitable business and that any fine must act as an incentive to maintain the highest safety standards.

“It should not be a blip in the accounts,” she remarked.

She set a headline fine of €250,000 for Glenveagh and €125,000 for KDK.

In mitigation, the judge took into account the guilty pleas, which had saved the State the cost of a trial and spared the family of the deceased from giving evidence.

She also considered the new safety measures introduced by both companies and found there had been “no cavalier attitude towards health and safety”. Judge Ní Chúlacháin reduced the fines to €125,000 for Glenveagh and €65,000 for KDK.

Concluding the case, the judge said: “Any death is a tragedy, but an avoidable death is a double tragedy.”