Roadworks company fined €1.2m after father and two children died in lough

A roadworks company that pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches has been fined €1.2m at Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court following the deaths of a man and two children.

Judge Roderick Maguire said three people had died due to the failures of Whitemountain Quarries Limited.

John Mullan, 49, his six-year-old daughter Amelia and his 14-year-old stepson Tomás - died after their car went off the road at Quigley's Point in County Donegal and plunged into Lough Foyle in August 2020.

John's wife, Geraldine Mullan, who survived the tragedy, said it was impossible to describe her pain and depth of loss in what was "a preventable road traffic accident".

The judge said the company had failed to manage roadworks which led to the deaths and they didn't protect the public.

He added that this was a tragic case involving a family of four wonderful people and that he must consider the devastation of those deaths on Geraldine Mullan, who had given her evidence to the court with "great dignity" after she suffered "unbridled grief and loss".

Whitemountain Quarries Limited, which is now part of the Breedon Group, had pleaded guilty to breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 at the R238 Greenbank Project, Three Trees, Quigley's Point.

The CEO of Breedon Ireland, Declan Carr, said he wished to offer a clear and unequivocal apology.

"I know nothing I say can change your loss… we will carry the responsibility for it."

He added: "I am truly, truly sorry."

The Mullan family had been in Londonderry enjoying a day out on 20 August that year and the accident happened on their way home.

The court was told the front passenger wheel slipped onto the hard shoulder within the area of roadworks.

As Mr Mullan attempted to regain control of the car, it skidded across the road, slid over the embankment and entered Lough Foyle.

A Forensic Collision Investigator's report found that the car did not contribute to the collision.

A national storm warning was in force in the Republic that evening.

Ms Mullan told the court that her heart had been broken into pieces and that the pain and heartbreak was immeasurable.

"There is no end to my grief, I will never get over our accident. It will live with me for the rest of my days," she told the court in an impact statement.

"The last sounds that I heard from my children and my husband were their screams of terror as our car plunged into the River Foyle, overturned and ended up on the seabed," Ms Mullan said.

The court heard once the car hit the water, Ms Mullan tried to open the window and it felt like she was sucked through it into the water.

She swam back towards the car and tried to cling onto to it, but strong waves pushed her against a sewer pipe.

She said she climbed onto the car and screamed for her husband and children.

Ms Mullan told the court that she tried to wave to people on the road and that 20 to 25 cars went by in both directions before the alarm was raised by a passing family.

Ms Mullan was brought in a wheelchair to see the bodies of her husband and children.

"I remember I made a sign of the cross on each of their heads and kissed them once more. The night, its sounds, imagery and tragedy have not left me. It never will," she said.

Ms Mullan said her husband was about to turn 50 three weeks after the tragedy, adding some of his presents remain unopened in their home.

"He made me feel safe and whole. I was a single parent when I met John.

"I thought I had found my happily ever after and I had, but I didn't get to keep it," she said.

"I miss everything about him - I miss hearing his voice, his music, our holidays, our date nights and the way we could still feel like teenagers together. I miss how he made my heart skip a beat, I miss being held in his arms, I miss his smile and his way of making me feel like I was his whole world," she said.

She said her son, Tomás, filled her heart with love and pride, adding that he was her "firstborn, a beautiful boy and the light of my life".

"John came into our lives when Tomás was almost four and they connected instantly. They were like two peas in a pod," she said.

She described Tomás, with whom she shared a love of photography as "wise beyond his years," and said: "his giggles could brighten any day".

"He was kind, loving and caring to all those who knew him. He would always check in with me when I came home from work to make sure I was okay."

She said he was loved by friends, talented in music and sport, having played the fiddle, accordion and enjoyed judo, chess and sea scouts.

Ms Mullan described her daughter Amelia as "a ray of sunshine," who "had the most beautiful curls and a creativity that shone through everything that she did".

"Sundays were our special mother-and-daughter time, and those precious memories are what I hold dearest now.

"What I wouldn't give for another Sunday morning with my little girl."

Ms Mullan said she tried to save her family and that night would haunt her forever.

"Now, almost six years later, I still have flashbacks," she said.

"It is like a recurring nightmare or dream that I cannot wake up from."

Whitemountain Quarries had been carrying out resurfacing works on a 1.3km stretch of roadway for Donegal County Council.

With adverse weather forecast and the work ahead of schedule, plans to resurface the hard shoulders were scheduled for the following week.

The company acknowledged in court that it failed to manage and conduct the guiding of public traffic through roadworks, and, as a consequence the three family members had died, and Ms Mullan suffered serious injuries including multiple fractures.

A Whitemountain Quarries engineer asked a subcontracted company, appointed to develop and implement a traffic management plan, to remove signage on the day of the incident.

Whitemountain Quarries indicated that they would put up their own cones and signs.

The court heard that a stop-go system in place was lifted. Periodic spot checks were planned over the weekend. The court heard this did not happen on that night.

The court heard that the new road surface was at least 5cm higher than the hard shoulder, that there were no central markings or visible cones on a section of the north bound carriageway and that the road had a very poor level of friction.

The court was told Whitemountain Quarries Ltd cooperated fully with the subsequent Health and Safety Authority investigation, had no previous convictions, and had not come to adverse attention since the incident.

The company intensified its focus on health and safety following the tragedy.