A MOTHER whose 11-year-old daughter and husband died in the Castletownbere ferry tragedy more than three years ago was awarded Pounds 25,000 compensation in Cork Circuit Court yesterday.
Ms Mary Moriarty, from West End, Castletownbere, lost her daughter Tracy and her husband Vincent when an unlicensed ferry, known locally as the Blue Barge, capsized shortly after it left port on February 24th, 1994.
Judge A.G. Murphy made the award plus costs against the Minister for the Marine; Mr Colm Harrington, managing director of Bere Island Ferries Limited; and the ferry company.
All defendants in the action had denied liability and each blamed the other for the accident, Mr Gerry Healy SC told the court.
During the hearing he outlined a series of events leading up to the tragedy including the fact that the Blue Barge was unlicensed, uninsured and uncertifiable.
It had originally gone into service in 1986 and had been operating without a licence from that time. It was taken out of service when the Misneach, a new licensed ferry took over the route from Bere Island to the mainland. The ferry carried passengers and vehicles and regularly carried more than 20 schoolchildren attending schools in Castletownbere.
The Misneach was being surveyed by Department of Marine officials for its annual licence in February 1994, and the Blue Barge was brought into service to cover while it was out of action. It was seen operating illegally by one of the officials who remarked to Mr Harrington that he could have it licensed also.
A retired naval officer, Lieut Cdr Eamon Doyle, described the Blue Barge as an ad-hoc vessel which was extended in length and breadth, with a wheelhouse shelter and engine added. It would not have inspired a great deal of confidence in Department surveyors examining it for licensing purposes, he said.
The Moriartys were in the passenger shelter below deck when the vessel capsized. The shelter had only one exit. The barge's deck was also seriously defective, with openings in it through which there was progressive flooding.
The ferry on the day of the tragedy was carrying a van and a county council lorry loaded with road-filling material, and as it left port it started to take on water. It returned to the pier, and the lorry's position on board was slightly adjusted. It then continued on its journey in calm waters towards Bere Island and started taking on water again with the compartments below deck flooding.
The skipper, who was the only crew member on board, left the wheelhouse to turn on the bilge pump. He asked the van driver to move his vehicle slightly forward. He then asked the lorry driver to do similarly and decided to return to Denish Island, which was nearby, rather than continue the journey to Bere Island, Mr Healy told the court.
The ferry capsized, throwing passengers and the vehicles into the sea, but the Moriartys and two others were trapped and drowned.