Man sues Fallon and Byrne restaurant after fall

John Reilly claims he he fell on wet stairs at Dublin city restaurant

A man who claims he fell on stairs and fractured his foot when returning to a first floor Dublin city restaurant after a cigarette break outside the premises has sued for damages.

Mr Justice Michael Moriarty will rule on Friday on who is responsible for the fall on the stairs at Fallon and Byrne, Exchequer Street, in the city.

If John Reilly fully succeeds in his claim he fell on wet steps, damages have been calculated in the case at €51,375, the court was told.

Mr Reilly (49), a telecommunications consultant of Granitefield, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, has sued Fallon and Byrne Ltd as a result of the fall on February 19th, 2011. He suffered two fractures to his left foot, it is claimed.

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Mr Reilly claims the company failed to provide any grip on the steps of the stairs leading to its 120-seat restaurant and it is also alleged the steps were wet.

Fallon and Byrne has denied all the claims, denies the stairs were wet and pleads it was Mr Reilly’s misjudgment which caused his fall. It has also pleaded contributory negligence on the part of Mr Reilly, claiming he had been “skipping” up two steps at the time of the accident.

Yesterday, Mr Reilly said he had gone with his wife and a number of friends for a meal in the restaurant. It was a dirty wet night and it had been raining that day, he said.

Shortly before midnight, he said he went out the front of the building for a cigarette and was making his way back to the restaurant upstairs when the accident happened.

He said he was half way up the stairs when he felt his foot slipping. He said he fell forward and his left foot also got caught in the gap between the steps. “A split second later, I was in agonising pain,” he said.

“The steps were damp and wet and slippy; that is the basis of what went wrong here.”

Cross examined by Jospeh McGettigan SC, for the defendant, Mr Reilly accepted it was the third time he had been on the stairs that night and he had gone out earlier for a cigarette break.

When counsel suggested Mr Reilly had been taking two steps at a time and his own misjudgment caused the accident, Mr Reilly said he did not think so. The steps were wet, he said.

When counsel suggested, had he gone one step at a time, the accident would not have happened and the cause was his own misjudgment, Mr Reilly said he did not accept that.