Wheelchair athlete wins holiday claim

Ireland's leading wheelchair athlete, Gerry O'Rourke, has won £7,500 damages in a "bad holiday" claim against Falcon Leisure …

Ireland's leading wheelchair athlete, Gerry O'Rourke, has won £7,500 damages in a "bad holiday" claim against Falcon Leisure Group (Overseas) Ltd.

Ms Sarah Moorhead, counsel for Mr O'Rourke, of Ballyfermot, Dublin, told the Circuit Civil Court he and his wife and their two children had been promised a groundfloor apartment in La Manga, Spain.

The O'Rourkes had arrived at the Grimanga Apartments in March 1997 to discover the complex did not have groundfloor apartments. They were given a second-floor apartment which caused considerable inconvenience in that there was no lift. Mr O'Rourke had to get out of his wheelchair and climb a stairway to get to the lift. A ground-floor apartment had been requested and recorded on the booking form.

Ms Moorhead said a settlement of £7,500 had been agreed in talks with counsel for Falcon Leisure.