Cork farmer pleads guilty to charges in relation to fatal farm accident
A Cork farmer has pleaded guilty to two charges in relation to an accident that occurred on her farm in 2020 that resulted in the death of a neighbour.
Mary O'Riordan, of Curragh, Lissarda, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 both relating to a failure to discharge a duty.
Suzanne Gorey, prosecuting, said the charges being brought were under Section 77 of the act, subsections 2a and 9a.
Giving evidence, Health and Safety Authority inspector Frances Murphy said the incident occurred at Ms O'Riordan's premises on April 14, 2020. The court was told the deceased man, Declan Flynn, and another neighbour John Kingston, were working on refurbishing the roof of an outbuilding at the farm.
The incident happened during the covid pandemic and as he was not able to go to work, Mr Flynn agreed to help out with the roof renovations.
Ms Murphy said the two men began work on the roof at around 10am. In the afternoon, they were removing nails from some galvanised sheeting when a beam underneath Mr Flynn gave way and he fell approximately five metres to the floor below and sustained serious head injuries.
The court heard Mr Flynn was taken to Cork University Hospital where he died as a result of the injuries on May 5, 2020. The court was told that a report prepared by assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster stated that Mr Flynn died as a result of severe brain trauma resulting from injuries sustained in the fall.
Defence solicitor Jack Purcell said that Ms O'Riordan had no previous convictions.
Judge Joanne Carroll said she would have liked to have finalised the matter on the day but agreed to an adjournment to allow for the preparation of a victim impact statement by the deceased man's family. The judge said: 'I understand you need time to reflect on this and collect your thoughts. There is no rush.'
The case was adjourned to September 3.
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Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Cork farmer pleads guilty to charges in relation to fatal farm accident
A Cork farmer has pleaded guilty to two charges in relation to an accident that occurred on her farm in 2020 that resulted in the death of a neighbour. Mary O'Riordan, of Curragh, Lissarda, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 both relating to a failure to discharge a duty. Suzanne Gorey, prosecuting, said the charges being brought were under Section 77 of the act, subsections 2a and 9a. Giving evidence, Health and Safety Authority inspector Frances Murphy said the incident occurred at Ms O'Riordan's premises on April 14, 2020. The court was told the deceased man, Declan Flynn, and another neighbour John Kingston, were working on refurbishing the roof of an outbuilding at the farm. The incident happened during the covid pandemic and as he was not able to go to work, Mr Flynn agreed to help out with the roof renovations. Ms Murphy said the two men began work on the roof at around 10am. In the afternoon, they were removing nails from some galvanised sheeting when a beam underneath Mr Flynn gave way and he fell approximately five metres to the floor below and sustained serious head injuries. The court heard Mr Flynn was taken to Cork University Hospital where he died as a result of the injuries on May 5, 2020. The court was told that a report prepared by assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster stated that Mr Flynn died as a result of severe brain trauma resulting from injuries sustained in the fall. Defence solicitor Jack Purcell said that Ms O'Riordan had no previous convictions. Judge Joanne Carroll said she would have liked to have finalised the matter on the day but agreed to an adjournment to allow for the preparation of a victim impact statement by the deceased man's family. The judge said: 'I understand you need time to reflect on this and collect your thoughts. There is no rush.' The case was adjourned to September 3.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
‘You exploited the murder of a public servant': Minnesota shootings response the latest bleak episode in US politics
The image caught on the doorbell video was nightmarish: a stranger at the front door, disguised in a ghastly mask. By the time it entered the public domain, the man in the image was seconds away from murdering the occupants of the house, Minnesota state congresswoman and speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. It was the early hours of Saturday morning. By then, the man, later named as 57-year-old Vance Boelter, had already called to the house of another state politician, John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, both of whom he shot repeatedly. Miraculously, both have survived. A sergeant from the nearby Brooklyn Park precinct who had helped respond to the emergency call to the Hoffmans immediately instructed, with what was described as 'very intuitive' instinct, a squad car to check on the Hortmans' home. Police arrived to find Boelter, and fired at him. He entered the Hortmans' home, shot them and escaped. By Saturday morning, the biggest manhunt in the history of Minnesota was under way and on Sunday night, Boelter was ferreted out. By then, an extensive list of other intended victims had been found in his car. One of the names was that of Dean Phillips, the former congressman and US presidential candidate who ran against Joe Biden in the Democratic primary election last year. READ MORE 'Sadly, I am used to it,' Phillips responded when asked how he felt to discover his name was among Boelter's targets. 'Everyone working in public office, we are accustomed to it,' he continued, noting that during his presidential campaign, the biggest budget expense was security. The killings marked another bleak episode in US politics and as the premeditated violence visited on the Hortman family dominated the weekend headlines, other victims of national political violence were among those who paid tribute. 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By then, Donald Trump had already survived, by millimetres, an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was the target of a foiled shooting plot, at his golf club in Mar-a-Lago later in the year. In the immediate aftermath of the Minnesota killings, Trump issued a statement to confirm he had been 'briefed on the terrible shooting' and warned that 'such horrific violence would not be tolerated'. But expressing condolences to the state's governor proved a step too far for the president. It is unknown whether he has privately contacted the bereaved family. The politicisation of the killings had begun even as the manhunt gripped the state. Utah Republican senator Mike Lee posted two inexplicably poorly judged messages to his X account on the Sunday. One read: 'This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way.' The other showed a still image of the masked Boelter at the Hortman's porch beneath the caption 'Nightmare on Waltz Street'. 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'The decision of the office of Senator Mike Lee was not to publicly condemn the violence or to express condolences to her shattered children – it was to intimate that Melissa and Mark somehow deserved this? By making jokes? Did you have any consideration for the survivors in her family? For the Hoffmans in the hospital? For their families? You exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats. Did you see this as an excellent opportunity to get likes and retweet[s]? Have you absolutely no conscience? No decency?' Vance Boelter: accused of assassinating Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark In the hours and days since the shooting, prominent far-right conspiracy theories predictably spread falsehoods linking the killings to Democratic policies, some going so far as to link Walz with the shootings. That campaign was designed to obscure an early interview with a man described as Boelter's roommate who said that the suspect was a Trump supporter. During the nationwide 'No Kings' protests which overshadowed the 250th anniversary army parade in Washington on Saturday, it was noted that several placards read '86 47″, interpreted as a numerically coded threat against the president. All the while, a picture began to emerge of Boelter as a deeply religious conservative and father of five who decided to make his anti-abortion views the reason behind the murders of which he now stands accused. 'It appears he used the abortion question,' Dean Phillips agreed. 'I believe what this is really about is yet another example of an American in despair whose life didn't turn out the way he wanted, economically challenged, his professional pursuits failed and sadly these people feel that they have to attract attention somehow and they choose the most atrocious way to do it. 'I think he conveniently chose this issue and he clearly chose Democrats. And it's just repulsive. But it could have been Republicans. It doesn't matter – his politics, his colour, race or religion. What matters is that we continue to express horror and shock and don't do much about it.'
The Irish Sun
12-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
Irish jockey Michael O'Sullivan's cause of death confirmed as inquest hears rider died from ‘traumatic brain injury'
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