A young man who was a passenger on a school bus involved in an accident in which five school girls died has settled a High Court action in which he sought damages for post-traumatic stress, depression and loss of opportunity suffered as a result of the accident.
Daryl Noonan (20), now living in Australia but originally from Dean Hill, Hayes, Navan, Co Meath sued Bus Éireann arising from the tragedy which resulted after the school bus went out of control and overturned on the Kentstown Road near Navan on May 23rd, 2005. Five girls died in the accident.
Bus Éireann had conceded liability in the action and the case was before Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan to assess damages for Mr Noonan.
This morning, Mr Justice Sheehan was informed the case could be struck out and an order to tax Mr Noonan’s costs on a Circuit Court scale could be made. No further details of the settlement were revealed to the court.
The court was told Mr Noonan, at the time of the accident, was in his second year in secondary school in Navan, his grades were good and he got on well with his family.
Mr Noonan said he remembered hearing screams from others on the bus just before the crash occurred and also saw other passengers with injuries before making his way out of the vehicle.
Mr Noonan suffered minor injuries in the accident but said he started getting frequent nightmares and flashbacks afterwards and becomes anxious while travelling. Following the accident, Mr Noonan said he was unable to talk about it to others. He knew one of the girls who was killed in the accident very well, he said.
Over the following months, he also lost complete interest in his schoolwork, which had been good prior to the crash. As well as his poor grades over the next few years, he was suspended from school for “mitching” and lost interest in sports.
While he passed his Junior Certificate in 2006, he did not do as well as he should have, he said. He finished secondary school but did not pass his Leaving Certificate.
His relationship with his family deteriorated, he spent very little time at home and began drinking alcohol a lot, he said. He attended a counsellor and in 2009 decided to move to Australia in order to get away from what had happened.