A man who suffered a serious back injury after his bicycle slipped on a road surface where he claimed excessive sealant had been used has been awarded €64,000 damages by a High Court judge.
Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon said Joseph Kearney suffered severe pain and a loss of amenities of life to a significant degree.
He was in extreme pain for nine months and had fairly significant pain and suffering for two years, she found.
Mr Kearney (47), Portlaw, Co Waterford, sued Tipperary County Council, as responsible for upkeep of the road at Ballinaraha, Kilsheelan, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, where the incident occurred on December 26th, 2011.
He also sued Roadstone Wood Ltd, with offices at Tallaght, Dublin, which had carried out works on the road.
In her judgement on Friday, the judge said Mr Kearney had given evidence that about 17 people were cycling two abreast on the hard shoulder.
Mr Kearney, who was wearing a helmet, said he approached a curve on the road and suddenly and without warning was caused to slip and fall from his bicycle.
The judge said he had given his evidence carefully and honestly and did not exaggerate his situation. As to the cause of the fall, the judge said it was quite clear, and there was no real dispute between the engineers in the case, the bitumen sealant was not in accordance with specifications of the National Road Authority.
It was the duty of both the local authority and Roadstone to ensure the contract was fulfilled in line with the specifications, she said.
In finding liability against both defendants, she said it seemed they accepted evidence put forward on behalf of Mr Kearney there was faulty workmanship in terms of the original work on the road and the repair.
A similar incident had occurred elsewhere on the road and had been witnessed by one person who gave evidence in the case, the judge said.
Roadstone Wood Ltd had carried out remedial works and did so without ensuring the work was done to the correct standard in line with the correct specifications, she found.
The council was also negligent because it was reasonably foreseeable such patching negligently done in breach of the regulations would cause an accident and it was well aware there had been a similar inident, she said.