Bus Eireann not notified about Navan crash charges

Bus Éireann said last night that it had still not been notified by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of any charges pending…

Bus Éireann said last night that it had still not been notified by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of any charges pending as a result of the Navan bus crash in which five school girls lost their lives last May.

The Garda Press Office revealed earlier this week that the DPP is to prosecute Bus Éireann over the crash, although details of the charges were not disclosed.

Last night a spokeswoman for the bus company said "no papers, no documents have been received at all. We can only imagine that they may be on the way, we don't know how these things work , how long they take."

She added that the company had received its information on the alleged prosecution through the media.

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In the light of a possible prosecution, however, the company refused to speculate on what the charges might be.

Sinéad Ledwidge aged 15, Claire McCluskey (18), Deirdre Scanlon (17), Lisa Callan (15) and Aimee McCabe (15) all died when their school bus went out of control at roadworks near Navan.

The accident happened about 4.15pm as the bus, carrying students from four secondary schools, made its way from Navan towards Slane. Gardaí set up a cordon half a mile from the crash and helicopters were used to transport medical teams from other regions to the site. Including the dead girls there were 51 casualties.

Three separate investigations were immediately set in train. They included an internal Bus Éireann inquiry which has recently been completed.

Parents were hopeful that copies of the inquiry report would have been forwarded to them, so they might know what led to the loss of life.

However, on the eve of the publication of the report Bus Éireann said it had received a request from the DPP not to go ahead with the distribution because of the possibility of compromising any future prosecution.

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist