A former music industry executive who is quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair as a result of injuries received when he dived into the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin has brought a High Court action for damages.
Mr Olan McGowan (37), Durham Road, Sandymount, Dublin, is suing the Sandycove Bathers' Association, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and the Minister for the Marine arising from the accident which occurred on July 30th, 1995.
In an affidavit, Mr McGowan said he was diving from a designated main diving area when he collided with rocks a few feet below the surface of the water.
His injuries meant he was a quadriplegic and would have permanent loss of power and sensation in his lower limbs and permanent partial loss of power and movement in his upper limbs. He was dependent on others and would require personal care equipment for the rest of his life.
He had been an executive employed by Sony Music.
The defendants deny negligence and plead that Mr McGowan failed to have regard for his own safety. They claim he exposed himself unnecessarily to a risk of injury of which he knew or ought to have known.
Cross-examined by Mr Fergus O'Hagan SC, for the Sandycove Bathers' Association, Mr McGowan said other people were "jumping in" at the time. Asked if he had ignored the time of the tides given at the entrance to the Forty Foot, Mr McGowan said he didn't have any recollection of what it said.
If somebody had said the tide was out, he would have asked what was the relevance of that.
The hearing continues today.