The popular school principal Pádraic Carney was fatally injured in a crash while cycling. The crash involved a passing car in June last year in Rathfarnham, south Dublin.
An inquest jury has recommended all cyclists wear helmets after returning a verdict of “accidental death” in the case of a cyclist killed in a crash with a passing car last year.
The driver of the vehicle, a 77-year-old man, did not give evidence at the inquest.
Instead a Garda witness explained to the Coroner’s Court that nobody was able to say how the fatal crash was caused.
Garda Gareth Vance said Pádraic Carney (53) was cycling on a south Dublin street when he was involved in a crash with a car driven by William Harrington, Boden Park.
Mr Carney was cycling and Mr Harrington was driving in the same direction and the crash occurred as the car passed the cyclist.
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However, Garda Vance said it had been impossible to determine if the car encroached into Mr Carney, or vice versa.
There were no witnesses to the crash and a bush obscured the only available CCTV footage.
Our thoughts are with the community of St Louis NS following the tragic death of principal Padraic Carney. Sympathies to all his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/rOeDCOQFID
— Ranelagh Gaels GAA (@ranelaghgaels) June 21, 2017
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Mr Harrington and his wife realised as they passed Mr Carney that the cyclist and car had collided. But exactly how the collission occurred remains unexplained.
“I cannot say who made the contact between these vehicles,” said Garda John Culleton, a forensic collision investigator.
“There was contact between both parties but I can’t say who made the manoeuvre that resulted in contact.”
The crash occurred on a bright morning , at 8.05am, on June 20th, 2017, on Butterfield Park, Rathfarnham.
The inquest hearing was told that Mr Carney, who died of a head injury in hospital hours after the crash, was not wearing hi-vis clothing or a helmet.
And after hearing the evidence the jury ruled the Mr Carney’s death was accidental. It also recommended all cyclists wear helmets.
The deceased father of three was principal at St Louis Senior Primary School in Rathmines.
He had set out from his home on Butterfield Close on the morning in question to cycle to work.
He met the Harringtons, who lived nearby, as they were setting out in their car for Heuston Station.
The crash occurred just moments after they had left their respective homes.
Mr Carney was a well known and much loved school principal. His death generated a considerable amount of media coverage at the time.
He was the 10th cyclist to be killed on the Republic’s roads in 2017. Another five cyclists would die by the end of the year, bringing the annual total to 15.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane extended the court’s sympathies to Mr Carney’s family at the conclusion of the inquest in Dublin today.
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