The High Court has dismissed a personal injuries action brought by Emily Murphy against Aer Lingus over an alleged heavy aircraft landing in 2011, after finding that the case had been allowed to remain inactive for years.
Murphy issued proceedings in August 2013 claiming she was injured while working as cabin crew on a Dublin-to-Birmingham flight on August 13, 2011. She alleged that the aircraft landed heavily, forcing her upper body down into a rigid crew seat.
Aer Lingus Group plc and Aer Lingus Limited applied to have the case dismissed for delay. In a judgment delivered on October 31, 2025, Mr Justice Mark Heslin found that the cumulative delay attributable to Murphy exceeded seven years.
The court noted repeated periods of inactivity. Replies to particulars took more than three years, further particulars required another five months, and a discovery request issued in September 2019 was never followed through by motion despite repeated warnings. A detailed response from Aer Lingus in April 2022 went unanswered for more than two years.
The judge applied the Supreme Court's 2025 decision in Kirwan v Connors, which gives greater weight to long periods of inactivity. Once cumulative inactivity exceeds five years, a court has a broad power to dismiss unless there is a pressing reason of justice to allow the case to continue.
No such reason was identified. Murphy filed no affidavit opposing the dismissal application, and her solicitors told the court they had been unable to obtain instructions from her for about three years.
The court also considered that any future trial would depend heavily on oral evidence about events dating back roughly 15 years, creating an obvious risk that faded memories would impair fact-finding.
The proceedings were therefore dismissed. Aer Lingus, having succeeded on the application, was said to have a presumptive entitlement to costs, with final orders listed for November 7, 2025.