An inquest into the death of a six-year-old girl in a house owned by Sligo Corporation has been adjourned after the coroner accepted that he had worked as a medical officer for the local authority.
The inquest had earlier heard an environmental health officer with the North Western Health Board accept that the house was unfit for human habitation and say that she had advised an assessment of the wiring.
It was also confirmed that the family will be pursuing a civil action in the High Court alleging that Sligo Corporation was negligent and in breach of its statutory duties.
Counsel for the family of Sarah Jinks, who died in a house fire in January 1999, asked for an adjournment to go to the High Court after the coroner refused to debar himself from the inquest.
This will be the second High Court hearing to arise from the inquest. Sligo Corporation sought an adjournment when it opened on February 23rd to allow a judicial review of a direction by the coroner that a complaints book held by the corporation be produced. The High Court subsequently upheld the coroner's decision.
The coroner, Dr Desmond Moran, said he did not believe he should debar himself because, to the best of his knowledge, it was "at least five years and probably a lot longer" since he had acted as medical officer for the corporation.
Counsel for the Jinks family, Mr Damien Tansey, said he would be making an application to the High Court on the basis that Dr Moran was an "interested party".
Earlier, an environmental health officer with the North Western Health Board accepted under cross-examination that the house in which Sarah Jinks died was unfit for human habitation. "It required repair work to make it fit for human habitation", Ms Edel Mahon said.
Ms Mahon had examined the house at St Edward's Terrace on September 28th, 1998, after Mrs Philomena Jinks complained to the health board. In a subsequent report Ms Mahon advised that "the electrical wiring in the house be assessed to ascertain if it is defective".
In her report, Ms Mahon said that water had seeped down the walls from the roof to the downstairs part of the house. "The water is affecting all the rooms in the house - wallpaper is coming away and stains are evident on the walls. The water running down the walls may give rise to serious electrical problems in the house as the wiring is old and the walls are damp."
Mrs Philomena Jinks made another complaint to Ms Mahon on January 5th, 1999, four days before her daughter died, saying that conditions had deteriorated.
Mrs Jinks's evidence that she made six complaints to Sligo Corporation about the wiring in the house was challenged by Mr Joe Carter, solicitor for the local authority, who said the corporation would say there were no complaints about the electricity.
Mr Carter said an electrician had visited the house on October 14th, 1998, and had "confirmed that everything electrical was correct in the house".
The issue of the corporation's complaints book was not clarified before the adjournment. Mr Tansey said the book produced was not the one used by a corporation employee to record Mrs Jinks's complaints. This employee is to be asked to attend the inquest.