The High Court has awarded Garda Dennis O’Mahony €91,621.90 after finding that a fire tender driver was negligent in a 2019 collision on a road near Ardfert, Co Kerry.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 20 November 2024, Mr Justice Barr found the fire tender driver liable and made no deduction for contributory negligence. The award comprised €40,000 for pain and suffering to date, €20,000 for future pain and suffering and €31,621.90 in special damages.
The collision happened on 18 June 2019 as emergency vehicles were travelling to a reported head-on crash. O’Mahony was driving the first of two Garda cars behind a fire tender owned by Kerry County Council. A paramedic jeep was also following. The vehicles had their sirens and blue lights on. The fire tender and the Garda car collided while passing a slow-moving tractor on a straight stretch of road.
O’Mahony’s case was that he had begun overtaking the fire tender and tractor when the fire tender moved into the right-hand carriageway and struck his car. The fire tender driver, Mr Fitzgerald, said he had indicated, checked his right-wing mirror and moved out to pass the tractor after seeing no vehicle attempting to overtake him. He said he first realised there was a problem when he heard a knocking sound.
The judge accepted O’Mahony’s account, supported by another Garda driver, that the fire tender’s right indicator was not flashing when O’Mahony began to overtake. The judge also found the Garda car had travelled far enough alongside the fire tender to be visible in its mirror. He concluded the driver was negligent either by failing to check the mirror immediately before moving right or by moving right when it was unsafe. The judgment said O’Mahony’s attempt to pass both vehicles was reasonable in the circumstances of an emergency response.
The collision forced O’Mahony’s car onto a grass bank and hedgerow, where it travelled about 58 metres before stopping. He suffered soft-tissue injuries to his neck, right shoulder, right wrist and right hand, as well as relatively mild post-traumatic stress symptoms. The judgment records that the psychological symptoms resolved within about 18 months, while recurring pain in his dominant right hand was expected to continue.
O’Mahony was certified unfit for work until July 2023 and later returned on light duties. At the time of judgment, he had not been cleared for full operational duties or shifts beyond midnight. The court accepted evidence of net lost overtime and allowances of €26,493.40, plus €5,128.50 for other special damages. The judgment records the final award; it does not specify any further order in the supplied text.