A heartbroken mother-of-two who lost her husband and two children in a tragic road incident in Co Donegal has said there is simply no end-line to her grief.
Brave Geraldine Mullan gave a heart-wrenching victim impact statement when she appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court today.
The specialist cancer nurse fought through tears as she told how she finds it difficult to live each and every day since the deaths of three most important people in her life on August 20, 2020. She also told of the last moments of her happy life as herself and her family played games and laughed just seconds before their perfect world was brought to a devastating end.
Geraldine’s beloved husband John Mullan and the couple’s children Tómas, 14, and Amelia, 6, died after their car left the road, slid down an embankment at Quigley’s Point and entered Lough Foyle.
All three drowned, but Geraldine, who was a front seat passenger in the car being driven by her husband, managed to survive after she got out and stood on top of the car.
Those gathered in the courtroom sat in a hushed silence, many wiping away tears, as she told how on the night, as she tried desperately to save her family, counted up to 25 cars pass her by as her husband and two children perished just yards from her.
The court heard how the condition of the R238 road, which was undergoing resurfacing works at the time, led directly to the deaths.
Roads company, Whitemountain Quarries Ltd, have been indicted on two different counts in relation to the incident and have entered guilty pleas.
The company is indicted with two counts of failing to discharge a duty as an employer to persons other than an employee by failing to ensure as far as reasonably practicable that in the course of the works being carried out, individuals at the place of work are not exposed to risk to their safety, healthy or welfare, as provided by for in section 12 of the Safety, Health and Welfare Act 2005, contrary to section 77 (9) (a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
The particulars of the indictments states that Whitemountain Quarries Limited on or about August 20, 2020, at the R238 Greenbank Project, Three Trees, Quigley’s Point, in the County of Donegal, being a place of work under your control within the meaning of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, and you being an employer within the meaning of the said Act, did fail to manage and conduct your undertaking, specifically, in the carrying out of roadworks at the said location, in such a way to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that in the course of the work being carried on, individuals at the place of work, not being your employees, were not exposed to risk to their health, safety and welfare, and in particular that you failed to manage and conduct of guiding of public traffic through the said roadworks, thus being in breach of section 12 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, and a consequence, three individuals, to wit John Mullan, Tomás Mullan and Amelia Mullan died, and an individual, to wit Geraldine Mullan, suffered personal injuries.
Barrister for the state, Ms Fiona Crawford told the court that penalties for the indictments are a fine of up to €3 million.
The court heard evidence from Inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Mr Brian McHugh, who gave an overall synopsis of the events of the tragic night after leading a full investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
The court was told that the Mullan family had been returning to their home in Moville on the Inishowen Peninsula having enjoyed a family day out at the cinema and in the bowling alley in Derry.
The tragedy took place during Storm Ellen while there was a Status Yellow weather warning in place and driving conditions were difficult.
Mrs Mullan told how they had encountered roadworks and there were no road markings.
Outside of Quigley’s Point, at a location known as the Three Trees, the family’s Mitsubishi car hit the hard shoulder and John Mullan attempted to bring the car back but he lost control and the car skidded across the road and into Lough Foyle.
In her statement to Gardai, Mrs Mullan told how it felt like the front wheel on her passenger side “slipped down between the finished tarmac and the old part of the road.”
She told how her husband had tried to get control of the car and was saying “Oh Jesus”, the children were screaming and she was saying “Oh, no, no” before the car plunged straight into the water.
Mrs Mullan said everything suddenly went dark and she felt the water suddenly coming in.
She managed to get her seatbelt off and felt like she was sucked out of a window and was being hit by large waves and was being pushed towards an outflow pipe.
She eventually got back to the car and managed to cling into the wheel before climbing onto the top of the upturned car and began screaming for help.
She began screaming for her family and then shouted towards the road and passing cars but nobody could hear her pleas for help.
One of the first people on the scene was Gerard Crossan and his wife Linda who commented on how difficult it was to see while driving.
Gerard said he noticed a tyre-mark on the road which had not been there earlier and Linda said she felt as if something was not right.
Miraculously, the couple pulled in and heard Mrs Mullan’s screams for help.
Other people including John Quigley and Conor McDaid were also quickly on the scene to help.
The emergency services also arrived a short time later and they managed to take a distraught Mrs Mullan from the water.
Having been recovered from the water, Ms Mullan was taken in a wheelchair by Sergeant Charlene Anderson to an area where the three bodies were landed out and a local priest, Fr Farren, administered the Last Rites. Emergency services lined up like a guard of honour as Ms Mullan was brought to her husband, son and daughter.
“I kneeled down and kissed each of them,” she remembered. “I made the sign of the cross on each of their heads and kissed them once more.”
She told how paramedics wanted to give her pain relief for a number of injuries she had sustained in the horrific incident but that she refused because she wanted to be alert.
She spent 36 hours in hospital being treated for a range of injuries.
HSA Inspector Mr McHugh told how a traffic management system had been put in place on the night of August 20th during which 1.3kms of road was being resurfaced.
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On Thursday, August 20th, it was decided that the Greenbank Project to complete the resurfacing was ahead of schedule.
It was decided to suspend works until the following week to complete the tarring of the hard shoulders of the project because the weather was due to deteriorate.
Mr McHugh told that as a result there was a drop of 65 millimetres from the completed tar in the centre lanes.
A road traffic management plan had been subcontracted by Whitemountain Quarries to a company called Road Traffic Management Services.
However, on the evening of August 20th at 5pm, the evening of the fatal incident, RTMS handed management of traffic services back to Whitemountain Quarries as requested.
This resulted in employees of Whitemountain traveling to a different site to collect cones and other equipment to manage the site of the project.
However, the court heard that the traffic management put in place by Whitemountain Quarries including the signage, cones and lighting was simply not good enough.
A plan to cary out “spot-checks’ of the traffic management system over the weekend never took place after that evening and the tragedy involving the Mullan family occurred at approximately 10.20pm.
The sole survivor of the tragedy, Geraldine Mullan, indicated that she wished to read out her own victim impact statement.
In a deeply emotional and heart-wrenching statement, Mrs Mullan told of her life since her loves ones were so cruelly taken from her.
She also paid an individual tribute to each members of her family and imagined what her life would be like today with each of them if the tragedy had not occurred.
She said “I have difficulty coping with everyday life, navigating the demands without the support and safety I felt with John as my partner and “steady rock”. Going from a family of four to a family of one has been devastating and the emotional and psychological impact has been overwhelming and life altering.
“There are no words that can fully describe the pain of losing my entire immediate family in one moment. My home, once full of life, love and activity, is now an empty shell, devoid of all our magical moments as a family.
“I continue to struggle with memories of that day, and the emotional impact is something I will carry for the rest of my life. Now almost six (6) years later, I still have flashbacks, nightmares, and relive that night over and over. It is like a recurring nightmare/dream that I cannot wake up from and the pain, the heartache, the desolation, the loneliness, the sadness and crippling fear is insurmountable.”
The Chief Executive Officer Whitemountain Quarries, Mr Declan Carr, took to the witness stand to apologise on behalf of the company.
Mr Carr said he was making the apology, not as a business leader but as a father, son, brother and a husband saying he simply could not imagine the depth of loss she has suffered.
He said that no words could express how deeply and sincerely sorry he was for the loss of John, Tomas and Amelia.
He admitted that the company did not meet the standards required and for that they took responsibility saying what happened should not have happened.
He said they had fallen short and they must act to ensure that it does not happen again.
He reiterated that they will never fully understand the depth of Mrs Mullan’s loss but he did say they will carry the responsibility for it adding “I am truly, truly sorry for your loss.”
Garda Gerard McCauley, Senior Forensic Collision Investigator, attended the scene the following day, Friday, August 21st.
His report reflected the lack of road markings, lack of lighting at the scene, the lack of road signage as well as the fact that the hard shoulder was 6cms lower than the centre of the roadway.
He carried out a number of tests which showed there were poor levels of road friction and that there had been strong winds and coastal flooding on the night.
His report added that although road conditions were difficult on the night, the Mullan’s family car had a valid NCT certificate, speed was not a factor on the road which was governed by a 100kph speed limit and that the condition of the car did not contribute to the incident.
Another expert witness in road safety and training, Alan McMahon, also surveyed the site.
Mr McMahon also outlined the inadequacies of the traffic management plan on the night citing the quantity of road signs, the road cone layout, safe passage as well as advanced signage adding there was no proper road traffic management system in place.
Barrister for Whitemountain Quarries Ltd, now part of the Breedon Group, Ronan Kennedy, SC, said he first wanted to pay tribute to the dignity and strength of Mrs Mullan.
He said the tragedy had cast a long shadow over the company and will do so indefinitely.
He added that the company had never suffered any safety issues previously and that it prided itself on its health and safety record.
As a mark of respect to the Mullan family, the company had suspended all work operations on the day of the court hearing.
Mr Kennedy added that he was aware of another serious accident at the location since the tragedy of 2020 and that there was now a crash barrier at the site.
He asked Judge Roderick Maguire to accept the company’s remorse as genuine and heartfelt and that there was an extremely high level of cooperation.
He further asked the court to give the company credit for a plea of guilty and also said that, on the questions of costs, the company had discharged the costs of the DPP in advance.
He said the company had learned lessons as a result of the tragedy and that it now endeavoured to “exceed any minimum standards.”
Judge Roderick Maguire said he would like to see practical examples of this, perhaps set out in ‘bullet points’ and given to state barrister Ms Crawford.
He adjourned the case until next week but that he would like to see these examples of how the company has learned from this tragedy and what has been before he finalises the matter.
