A German woman in her 60s was in hospital in Co Kerry yesterday suffering from head injuries following an accident involving a pony and trap in the Gap of Dunloe , one of Killarney's prime tourist spots.
The accident at the weekend comes just months after the pony and trap men, worried about their future earlier this year, finally managed to secure insurance.
The single-vehicle accident occurred in the Gap of Dunloe shortly after noon on Saturday, according to the Garda, and it involved "a jarvey and two people on board" the trap.
The people on board may have been thrown from or jumped from the trap, the Garda press office said, adding that gardaí were investigating the the accident. The woman's head injuries were first thought to be severe. She was taken by ambulance to Tralee General Hospital.
Her condition yesterday was "comfortable and stable" and she was not in intensive care, a hospital spokeswoman said. Pony and trap representatives in the Gap yesterday were refusing to comment on the incident.
Last year insurance companies refused to cover them or give them a quotation and the well-known Gap trip, involving a boat trip through the lakes of Killarney and a 10 km mountain pony trip through the Gap of Dunloe in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, popular since Victorian times, was removed from 2004 tour brochures.
At the time, the agent for the insurance company which had covered them for 13 years, Killarney solicitor Mr Terence Casey, said the size of the payouts on a small number of claims against the pony men far exceeded the premiums paid.
One claim made a year ago for an accident involving four people was estimated at €500,000, Mr Casey said at the time.
Gap of Dunloe operators are separate from the Killarney and Muckross jarveys and use smaller trap-type vehicles.
Shortly before the local elections this year, they secured insurance through the South Kerry Development Partnership
The chairman of the agricultural committee, Fine Gael local-election candidate Mr Johnny O'Connor, claimed he secured insurance for them after looking at the experience of farmers involved in crafts and tourism and small enterprises.
There has been a history of difficulties between the pony and trap men and others, both tourists and local people, who wish to drive through the Gap, a public road regarded by the pony and trap men as their preserve.
The issue of public access is likely to again come before meetings of Kerry County Council later this year, according to sources. One suggestion which arose during negotiations was to have the road closed to cars at certain times.