The Ballycotton tragedy, in which four officers of the South Western Fisheries Board drowned while on sea patrol in July 1990, was recalled yesterday in an action for damages taken by a relative of one of the deceased.
Ms Anne Long, from Haighs Terrace, Bandon, Co Cork, the twin of Finbarr O'Driscoll, sued the Central Fisheries Board, the South Western Regional Fisheries Board and the Minister for the Marine for damages. A settlement of £30,000 was accepted in the High Court in Cork yesterday before Mr Justice Budd. The widow of Benno Haussmann received £148,500 in a settlement agreed in June 1994.
On July 7th, 1990, Mr O'Driscoll (43), was one of the officers in a boat which began to sink off Ballycotton during a fishery patrol. They were forced to abandon it and the men entered the water. The deceased was in the water for a considerable time before drowning.
The incident was the subject of a Government inquiry in Cork. In the High Court pleadings it was claimed that the defendants failed to provide proper and adequate supervision of the patrol, failed to provide adequate equipment, provided a boat that was dangerous, defective and unsafe and failed to provide Mr O'Driscoll with any adequate or suitable protection or survival clothing.