An inquest into the death of a cyclist at a busy junction in Sligo has been opened and adjourned after his family sought full access to a forensic collision examination report.
Maurice Rice of Rathanna, Sligo, and formerly of Dublin, died as a result of a road incident close to his home on Pearse Road, Sligo, on December 23rd, 2023.
The cyclist, who was in his 50s, was found in the cycle lane with serious injuries and was pronounced dead soon after at Sligo University Hospital.
At the brief hearing at Sligo Coroner’s Court today the victim’s partner, Ms Olga Higgins, and his family insisted on being furnished with “a full suite of documents” relating to his death, according to Ms Higgins’s counsel, Mr Damien Tansey.
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Sligo coroner Mr Fergal Kelly was told that the fatal incident happened in an inward bound cycle lane on Pearse Road on a day when “a hazard had arisen in the general area when the traffic lights were defective”, said Mr Tansey SC.
Counsel said that in order to warn road-users about the broken traffic lights, Sligo County Council had installed a warning device in the cycle lane, anchored by a sand bag.
Mr Tansey said Mr Rice’s family were requesting they be “furnished with the report of the forensic collision examination” and be given enough time to examine it thoroughly as they were usually “quite large detailed documents”.
“There’s only one paragraph from the County Council in relation to this tragedy,” Mr Tansey told the court, adding the family wanted to see everything from the council in relation to the case.
He then applied for an adjournment for this purpose.
Counsel for Sligo County Council Mr Keith O’Grady BL, instructed by solicitor Mr Declan Hegarty, agreed to the request. Sgt Derek Butler told the coroner the forensic collision examination report ran to 34 pages.
Mr Kelly told Mr Tansey that he would provide him with a copy of the report within seven days.
Mr Kelly then deemed Mr Rice’s inquest to have been opened and granted the adjournment to a future date in April.
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