"I saw the cab rock as it went over his body. The driver got out of his cab, came over and asked me what was wrong"
One half of the public gallery is entirely empty but for the slight frame of Kelly Pan, who has come to hear the inquest into the death of her 27-year-old fiance, Cheng Geng Yuan.
His elderly parents are at home in China, Kelly says, and his only sister has had to remain to look after them.
The last time she saw her fiancé was at about 6am that morning, January 20th last year. Like her, Cheng worked two part-time jobs by day and studied English at a language school in Dublin by night. This was one of his early mornings; he left their home at Blackhall Place in Smithfield by six so that he could cycle down the quays to the office near Dublin Port, where he worked as a kitchen porter in the canteen. It was still dark at that hour, so over his black coat Cheng wore a bright yellow vest.
The next time Kelly saw her fiance was when she looked over his crushed body at the Mater hospital. "In the hospital I was allowed to hold [ his] hand but not to look at him because his condition was so bad."
At about 3.25pm that Thursday, Ronald Font was driving his articulated truck along East Wall Road, and was about to make a right turn on to Alexandra Road. Across the busy junction, he saw there was another large truck - a red Scania - about to turn left on to the same road. It was dry that day, but windy, with an occasional gust blowing down the quays from time to time.
"Just as the red Scania went to turn right, I saw a cyclist coming up his left side," says Mr Font. "I got the impression the cyclist was trying to beat the truck before the truck turned. He was moving quite fast, with his head down. I perceived from the face of the cyclist and from the truck that there was going to be an accident." Mr Font blew repeatedly on his horn, but it was too late; the Scania went to swing left and in an instant, the cyclist disappeared under its front left wheel. "I saw the cab rock as it went over his body. The truck driver got out of his cab, came over to me and asked what was wrong. Then he put his hand over his mouth and started to walk off into the traffic in shock."
The Dublin city coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, asks Mr Font if he thought Cheng had been killed instantly. "Yes," he replies. "He made no contribution to his own safety." To his right, Kelly Pan wipes a tear from her eye and stares ahead.
Alan Reilly has been listening silently from the public gallery, his elbows resting on his knees and his head bowed. His was the red Scania; that afternoon he was returning to the yard on Alexandra Road from a job in Carrickmacross. "Turning into Alexandra Road, I had my indicator on. It's a tight turn, so I slowed right the way down and checked my mirrors. I didn't see anything. Then I felt a little thud and stopped."
When he jumped out of the cab, Mr Reilly could see the wheel of a bicycle jutting out from under his diesel tank. "I thought someone had thrown a bike in under the truck. I didn't even think Then I looked down under and I saw the chap. I saw his head and I panicked. I knew in my heart he was dead. I sat down on the [ traffic] island and I prayed I was shocked and dazed."
Cheng Geng Yuan was brought to the Mater hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4.12pm that afternoon. The autopsy recorded severe crush injuries to his head, neck and upper chest, while a toxicology test found no trace of alcohol or drugs in his system.
A Garda inspection of the Scania truck found that it was in serviceable condition, with damage that suggested the bicycle collided with the left front bumper. The truck was fitted with three mirrors on the passenger side, though it had no front-facing "cyclops" mirror, which is not a legal requirement in the Republic, and its driver would have been completely unsighted on his left once he began to make the turn.
The jury returns a verdict of accidental death, and recommends that an assessment be made of the safety of the junction where East Wall Road meets Alexandra Road.
"Ms Pan," the coroner says slowly, "Cheng died instantly. I think it's the only word of consolation I can offer you. He would have died instantaneously."
Kelly Pan stands, nods her head, and turns to leave the courtroom.