UKC

Bloody joke:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/himalayas-climber-sues-irish-na...

In reply to Denni:

Unfortunately we all live in a very litigious society and constant advertising and cold calls means this will happen more and more. An accident is turned into a financial opportunity but I cant help wondering who would have been sued if she had this accident on the trek to Everest Base camp

In reply to Gone for good:

Have a watch of Hot Coffee
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_(film)

Its an interesting documentary about seemingly frivolous lawsuits.

In reply to Denni:

As we have enough problems with access issues here already. This is a real blow. I hope she loses and has costs set against her. I can just imagine the field day the farming lobbyists will have with this. It also dissuades the powers that be from actually providing any facilities because if things are less than perfect afterwards then they are open to litigation.

In reply to Denni:

I hope her legs fall off.

In reply to Denni:

Someone should slap her across the face with a wet fish.

In reply to Denni:

I blame the seppos for us going this way.

In reply to Denni:

To be fair it was on a man made structure and they should fix it.

But I do take the view that legal cases such as this should only pay for out of pocket expenses. Money cannot allay psychological damage and as such should not be paid in respect of it in my view.

In reply to Denni:

This is why we can't have nice things in Ireland.

In reply to Denni:

Access to the Irish hills is in many places a contentious issue. I've seen signs in popular areas notifiying the public that there is 'no hillwalking', and on one other national way, The Kerry Way signs stating that any dog not on a lead will be shot. There have been a number of cases where Irish landowners have refused access to the countryside.

This sort of case, should it succeed will not improve the situation.

In reply to Dave Perry:

>The Kerry Way signs stating that any dog not on a lead will be shot.

What's wrong with that?

In reply to Denni:

The railway sleepers, referred to in the article, are a bloody nusciance. I never liked walking on them. Give me a traditional stone pitched path, any day...

Indeed, I once heavily sprained my ankle on them, coming down from Djouce, when I stepped awkwardly into a hole in the timber. It never crossed my mind to sue the national park though. I just put it down to bad luck and some inattention.

In reply to Denni:
I suspect shes not actually a climber though. "who has climbed in the Himalayas and to base camp on Mount Everest,". How do you 'climb' to everest base camp? Sounds like the paper trying to make the story more interesting.

Does sound a ridiculous claim though. 'Wall told Mr McParland,... that her foot had snagged in a hole in one of a number of old railway sleepers'. Hm. I usually take safety precautions like looking where I'm going. And if I fail to notice something in the way and trip over it, I swear and call myself a silly arse.

Cases like this do make me angry, they make everyone have to jump through hoops and guard against opportunist claims, then we complain when public bodies seem to have a culture of "health and safety gone mad" or traditional events like cheese rolling are cancelled because of health and safety concerns

In reply to Denni:

There’s a strong culture of exclusive rights in land and of antipathy to public access among Irish farmers. It’s partly explained by, and partly justified by, a stronger legal liability obligation on land owners and managers than in Britain, which means that there are more (and more successful) compensation claims for accidents to walkers. So Goatee’s right – far from being frivolous, as we might regard it on this side of the water, this case could be serious and important in its impact on access management in Ireland, especially where it involves constructed paths.

Sadly it’s true as Dave Perry says that access to some key Irish hills can be problematic to put it politely. A couple of years ago my repertoire of foul language was significantly enlarged by a farmer whom I’d politely and innocently asked how I might get on to the striking Benbulbin in Sligo. A bit awkward for the Irish tourist authorities who are keen to promote hill-walking …

In reply to Bob Aitken:

Are you not allowed up Benbulbin?
I go up the East bank of the obvious stream gully on the South West flank of it, starting up the track which branches of the right turn near Cartronwilliamoge.

http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html

In reply to Indy:

It's overreacting.

In reply to Lusk:

That certainly seemed to me the logical and attractive approach, but it was there that I got my warm greeting from the farmer. Maybe I was just unlucky in meeting him on a bad day. I heard later that the least problematic route is a circuitous backdoors approach from Gortnaleck to the east.

When, having retreated, I consulted the Tourist Information Centre in Sligo Town just for interest, I was given what was clearly a well-worn formulaic response that "We are not allowed to recommend any route of access on to Benbulbin for walkers". Perhaps, they said, I'd like to try the local bump, Knocknarea, instead. So much for Yeats' iconic mountain.

In reply to Indy:

Its unnecessary and the law requires your dog to be under close control. IF you can achieve that wihtout a lead why should your dog be shot at?!

In reply to BedRock:

It's a common UKC fantasy, any dog not on a lead deserves to die in a hail of lead, even if it's not causing a nuisance.

Back to the OP, I'm surprised the woman found a path in an Irish National Park to fall over on. She should think herself lucky.

In reply to Bob Aitken:

I've hardly ever met anybody on Irish mountains, let alone any crazy farmers. Maybe I've been lucky.
I've always wondered 'Don't the Irish like hill walking', apart from the barefoot madness of Croagh Patrick, obviously access problems.
I've also heard of the Gortnaleck approach, very quiet on that side if they're not turf cutting.
Knocknarea is OK for an hour's stroll, good view from the top though.



(Too many 'I've's here, my English is appalling!)

In reply to Neil Williams:


Yes, they should fix it... if it was reported to them. However, it would seem that 30,000 other walkers the previous year didn't deem it to be a hazard as no one else thought a 10cm hole was worth telling the Wicklow National Park Officer about.

It seems like a freak accident to me and she's one of these people who is bred into a culture of compensation. It couldn't possibly be her fault that she tripped.

In reply to Indy:



Yawn. Sorry, what did you say?

In reply to Denni:

Best watch where you put your feet then, you dozy bint.

In reply to Willi Crater:

>Sorry, what did you say?

GET ORF MOI LAAAND!!!!

In reply to Denni:
I'm vaguely surprised that a gash in the knee needing seven stitches can cause a life affecting injury since 2013.

Bad luck I guess.

In reply to Big Ger:

Hmm. what would I do in this puzzling situation. I know, like Ms Wall I'm a grown adult well into middle age and perfectly capable of making my own decisions. two possibilities:
1) I think that boardwalks in a disgraceful state. I dont think its fit to walk on, so I will change my plan
2) I can clearly see its a bit dilapidated, so I'll be careful. Its my own decision and Iv decided for myself that I'm going to continue, so I'v only myself to blame if do trip on a dodgy bit.

No wait, maybe theres a third. I can see its in a poor state and I'm not very happy but I'll carry on anyway even though I dont personally think its fit to walk on. Then if I do trip and fall I'll run to a solicitor crying "Not fair"