The High Court has dismissed a personal injury claim by a GAA club member who suffered serious injuries after falling through the roof of the club’s clubhouse during voluntary work.
The accident happened on 26 September 2015 at St Mary’s Donore GAA Club’s premises in Staleen, County Meath. Club members were removing roof slates ahead of refurbishment work. After the slates were taken off, the plaintiff stepped on the remaining felt and fell to the ground. There was no scaffold or other health and safety precaution, the judgment said.
The plaintiff’s claim was based on his being a “visitor” under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995, which would have required the club, as occupier, to take reasonable care for his safety. His counsel accepted that the claim faced a legal difficulty. A separate employment basis was abandoned at the hearing.
The judge, Ms Justice Stack, found that the plaintiff was a club member and had taken part voluntarily in work undertaken in the club’s common interest. She held that, as a member of the unincorporated club, he was himself among those occupying the premises and was not a visitor under the Act.
The court also considered whether a separate duty of care could be imposed on an individual member, including Peter Moore or Paul Scanlon, the defendants. It found no evidence establishing such a basis for liability. Scanlon, who chaired the committee, had sent members a text seeking volunteers, but the court found no evidence that the plaintiff was pressured to participate or that Scanlon had special knowledge of a risk. The judge said a committee role or administrative lead, by itself, did not establish an additional duty.
The judgment records that the plaintiff sustained fractures to his wrist, shoulder and elbow, nerve damage to his hand and other injuries. He continued to have difficulty with his shoulders and reduced sensation and grip in two fingers. The judge acknowledged the seriousness of his injuries but said it was unnecessary to examine them in detail once the legal issue was resolved.
The court dismissed the claim. It did not make an award of damages or find that either defendant was liable. The judgment noted that some accidents are treated in law as incidents for which no one is responsible.