An action for damages by a young woman whose two sisters - members of the Cork band, Nivita - died in a road accident three years ago, was settled at the High Court yesterday.
Ms Karen O'Herlihy (25) earlier told the court she now lived in Spain and had left Ireland because of the pain and bad memories she suffered after the accident, in which her sisters Niamh (20) and Anita (17) died.
A third member of Nivita, Ms Carmel Conroy, and her two-year- old daughter also died when her vehicle, in which the O'Herlihy sisters were travelling, was involved in a collision with a car near Charleville, Co Cork, on October 27th, 1999.
Ms O'Herlihy, formerly of Lackaroe, Liscarroll, Mallow, Co Cork, had sued Ms Elizabeth Corbett, of Churchtown, Mallow, the owner of the car which collided with that driven by Ms Conroy.
In evidence yesterday, Ms O'Herlihy, a mother of three, told Ms Justice Carroll: "I just don't feel anything." She said she had hated coming back "to the old country" to give evidence.
Ms O'Herlihy and her husband, Mr Rick Crowley, now live in a Spanish fishing village, L'Ampolo, about 90 minutes from Barcelona. She said she was suffering from major depression with associated social anxiety and had had to abandon her ambitions to pursue a legal career.
She said she had gone to the morgue at Mallow hospital, where she became distressed and suffered extreme shock when she saw her sisters' bodies. She had married in June 1999 and her sisters provided the music. Her sisters had launched a CD shortly before their death and songs from it were played at their funerals.