A Co Cork man who fell over a television cable at a Fianna Fail ardfheis in Dublin has settled his damages claim in the Dublin Circuit Civil Court for an undisclosed sum.
Mr Michael White, of Captain Keane's Grove, Mitchelstown, had sued Mr Bertie Ahern, Mr Michael O'Kennedy and Mr Richard Howlin, trustees of Fianna Fail; RTE and the Royal Dublin Society, for up to £30,000 damages.
Judge Yvonne Murphy heard Mr White was one of more than 1,000 Fianna Fail members returning to the RDS auditorium to hear their leader's address on Saturday, November 11th, 1995, when he tripped over an RTE cable and fell helplessly on his face and hands.
Mr White told his counsel, Mr Patrick Hunt, that after first aid treatment he remained in the hall for the speech and later joined friends for a meal and drinks in a hotel.
He told Mr John McDonagh, defending, that although the pain of injuries to his neck and lower back were "annoying" him at the time, he returned to Mitchelstown on a bus that night.
On the following Monday, because of the pain and a constant hammer-like throbbing in his head, he had visited his local GP. Although he had attended up to 18 sessions of physiotherapy, he still had to wear a corset due to back pain.
Mr White told Judge Murphy he was unable to do the chores of a husband around the house, such as cleaning out the fire or bringing in a bucket of coal. His voluntary activities also suffered, and he had become depressed.
Following the lunch recess, Mr Hunt told Judge Murphy the proceedings had been settled for an undisclosed sum and asked for an order for taxation of costs against RTE.