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Irish Examiner Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Car was out of control, inquest told
By Eddie Cassidy
A SOLE survivor of a crash which claimed six lives, including teenage twins, spotted an approaching car out of control at a road bend just before impact. Declan O'Donoghue said he pulled to the left to avoid a collision but his car struck the side of an oncoming Toyota Corolla which careered across the road in front of him.
The six victims of the accident at Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, Co Cork on September 29 last died instantly, an inquest hearing in Bandon, Cork, heard yesterday.
Twins Cian and Gavin O'Sullivan, 16, from Ballythomas, Kinsale, and friend Conor Coleman, 16, from Dunderrow, were passengers in a car driven by Paul O'Donovan, 22, from Ballinacurra, Kinsale. All four were wearing seatbelts, but vehicle inspector, Sergeant Pat O'Donovan, said the vehicle was struck at its most vulnerable point in the centre.
The other two victims, Clonakilty couple Denis and Nuala McCarthy, both 69, were passengers in a Volkswagen Passat driven by Mr O'Donoghue, their nephew.
There were no independent witnesses to the accident which occurred on the main Cork-Bandon road. Mr O'Donoghue, who was seriously injured, told Coroner Frank O'Connor the approaching Toyota Corolla came off the bend at speed and appeared to be out of control.
Owen McCarthy said he was a passenger earlier in the evening in the Toyota car, when Paul O'Donovan received a call from one of the twins, asking to go for a spin. Mr McCarthy said he last saw Mr O'Donovan around 7.45 pm. The driver called to the Field Bar in Dunderrow around 8 pm and told barman Paddy Ryan he was taking the vehicle back to a rental company at Cork Airport. Garda Supt Richard Duggan said tests carried out showed there was no drink consumed by either driver.
Garda Pat Lawlor, arriving at the scene, found both cars embedded in each other. He found Mr McCarthy in the back of the car, on the floor, with no sign of life. Mrs McCarthy was wedged against the dash.
The coroner described the crash as one of unspeakable tragedy. He expressed the hope the families involved would be able to offer comfort to each other.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death, in all six cases, in accordance with the medical evidence.
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The Free Library
RIENDS of four young men killed in an accident two weeks ago have asked the council not to remove a graffiti memorial.
Twins Cian and Gavin O'Sullivan and pal Conor Coleman, all 15, from Dunderrow, died along with 23-year-old Paul O'Donovan, from Kinsale, in a collision on the Cork-Bandon road.
Friends have created a shrine to their memory on the Pier Road in Kinsale - a spot where they all used to hang out together.
They have written messages and placed flowers and pictures at the spot.
Kinsale District Council has agreed to leave the spot as it is for a time.
'All four of them died, and two in the other car' Batt Coleman from Dunderrow, Co Cork, recalls the horror of the day he had to identify his son Connor's body in hospital MY story starts on September 29, 2001 when Connor, twins Cian and Gavin O'Sullivan, and Paul O'Donovan, who used to work for me, headed off in the car.
Paul, 22, used to bring cars hired by tourists back to Cork Airport so it wasn't unusual for him to take the other lads, who were all 15, for a spin.
I went to bed and Connor wasn't in but it was a weekend night so it wasn't unusual. But at about 6am I got up and went to check on him - it was almost like a sixth sense - and he wasn't in bed. My wife Mary was cross with him and tried to ring him on his mobile. I went back to bed and she was with my younger son Gavin calling Paul's house. His mother was going out the door to work but Paul wasn't at home either.
We called the O'Sullivans and the first inkling that there might have been something wrong was that they had heard on the radio that some people had been killed near Ballinhassig but the report said it was non-nationals.
At about 7.45am, the twins' mum rang me hysterical, telling me that they were all dead. I told her not to be daft but I rang the gardai myself and they told me over the phone Paul had died.
But the problem with the others was they were all too young to carry ID. I knew then and the garda asked me to go to the hospital in Cork to identify the body.
They were on the N71 between Bandon and Cork when they collided with another car.
All four of them died, and two people in the other car as well.
Speed is what it comes down to but no one could say what had happened - one person survived but he was in no state to say what had caused the crash.
Ireland's statistics have improved to a level I would never have imagined but more still can be done.
Connor would be 23 now.
We have to realise how vulnerable we all are.
---------------------------------------------------By Ralph Riegel
THE sole survivor of one of last year's worst car crashes which killed six people including teenage twin brothers, told a coroner's inquest yesterday how a car came round a corner totally out of control and smashed into his vehicle.
Declan O'Donoghue, whose aunt and uncle Denis and Nuala McCarthy died in the tragedy, told the inquest in Bandon yesterday that he was unable to avoid the Toyota Corolla driven by Paul O'Donovan at Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, Cork on Saturday September 29 2001.
Mr O'Donoghue, who was critically injured himself, told Coroner Frank O'Connor he steered his Volkswagen Passat as far as he could onto the left side of the road but the Toyota veered straight across and ploughed into the middle of his car.
West Cork pensioners Denis (66) and Nuala (64) McCarthy, died in the Volkswagen Passat being driven by their nephew Mr O'Donoghue.
The four young occupants of the Toyota Corolla all died at the scene.
They were: driver Paul O'Donovan (22), teenage twins Gavin (15) and Cian (15) O'Sullivan and their best friend Conor Coleman (15). Paul O'Donovan was from Ballinacurra, Kinsale and the three 15-year-olds lived in Dunderrow, Kinsale.
In a statement read to the inquest, Vincent O'Sullivan, father of twins Cian and Gavin, said when he heard about the accident and that Paul O'Donovan was driving, he immediately became concerned that his sons could be involved.
The Toyota car was being brought back by Paul O'Donovan to a hire company at Cork Airport when he received a telephone call from one of the twins asking to go for a spin with him.
Garda Pat Lawton said driving conditions were poor at the time. When he arrived at the crash scene, one of the cars was literally buried into the side of the other.
In the Passat, only Mr O'Donoghue was conscious but he was seriously injured and had to be cut free.
The garda said that an elderly man was on the floor of the car with no detectable pulse while an elderly woman was in the front passenger seat, seriously injured.
The garda opened the hatchback of the Toyota but there was no sound or movement from the four young occupants of the Toyota car.
Subsequent examination found that both the Volkswagen and the Toyota were fully roadworthy. All four occupants of the Toyota were wearing seat belts.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death for all six victims, with the coroner expressing his sympathy to Mr O'Donoghue and to the families of all those who died in the tragedy.
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