The Circuit Court found the National Parks and Wildlife Service liable after Teresa Wall fell on a deteriorated boardwalk while hill walking on the Wicklow Way. Judge Jacqueline Linnane awarded her €40,000 in general damages.
The judgment, delivered on 15 April 2016, says Wall was walking with her husband on 6 August 2013. She was 56, and both were experienced walkers wearing suitable clothing and boots and using walking sticks. Signage directed walkers to use the boardwalk to protect the mountain habitat. Wall’s foot caught in a depression or hole, and she injured her right knee.
Wall brought a personal injury claim alleging negligence and breach of statutory duty under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995. The Service denied liability and pleaded contributory negligence. Its arguments included that Wall was tired and was not watching where she was going, and that repair work could require an airlifted crew and risk habitat erosion. The judgment says a plea of consent to risk was included in the defence but did not appear to have been pursued.
The court considered whether the boardwalk, made from second-hand railway sleepers installed between 1997 and 2000, was a structure provided primarily for recreational users. Under section 4(4) of the Act, an occupier must take reasonable care to maintain such a structure in a safe condition. The judge treated that duty as applying independently of the higher threshold for liability over dangers on premises under section 4(1).
Wall reported the accident to the Service within about a week. The judgment says the Service’s district conservation officer confirmed receiving her call on 14 August 2013. The Service carried out inspections every two years and relied on walkers to report problems, but the complaint was not passed to the inspector before an inspection on 23 September 2013.
An engineer who inspected the site in April 2014 measured the depression where Wall fell at 22 inches long, one inch deep and four inches wide. The judgment describes photographs showing rotted timber and loose chicken wire, and says the site had deteriorated further by a joint inspection in September 2015. The Service’s regional manager said replacement was intended that year, depending on available funding.
Judge Linnane found the boardwalk was a structure placed on the land by the Service for recreational users. She concluded the timber was badly rotted, staples were protruding, chicken wire was loose, and reasonable care had not been taken to maintain it safely. She found no contributory negligence by Wall.
The judgment records bruising and a laceration to Wall’s right knee requiring seven stitches, along with pain, stiffness, a scar and discolouration. It says she cancelled a walking holiday and could not take part in the Dublin City Marathon that October. The court awarded €40,000 in general damages; the judgment does not specify a separate award for special damages.