Roadworks firm fined €1.2m after safety breaches led to deaths of father and two children

A roadworks company has been fined €1.2 million after admitting to health and safety breaches that caused the deaths of a father and his two young children. The incident occurred nearly six years ago in County Donegal.

Whitemountain Quarries pleaded guilty at Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court to failing to manage public traffic safely through roadworks at Three Trees, Quigley’s Point, on August 20th, 2020. Judge Roderick Maguire imposed the substantial fine for the breaches.

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I have difficulty coping with everyday life, navigating the demands without the support and safety I felt with John as my partner and ‘steady rock’.

The court heard that during Storm Ellen, with driving conditions described as difficult, the family's car dropped onto an unfinished hard shoulder. When the driver, John Mullan, attempted to steer back onto the road, the vehicle aquaplaned on the freshly laid surface. It then slid across the roadway into Lough Foyle. John Mullan and his two children, 14-year-old Tomás and six-year-old Amelia, drowned. His wife, Geraldine Mullan, survived but suffered significant injuries.

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There are no words that can fully describe the pain of losing my entire immediate family in one moment. My home, once full of life, love and activity, is now an empty shell, devoid of all our magical moments as a family.

An investigation revealed a lack of appropriate temporary traffic management signs and cones to guide vehicles safely through the works. Whitemountain Quarries, now part of the Breedon Group, faced charges under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.

In a victim impact statement, Geraldine Mullan described her life as devastated. The specialist cancer nurse spoke of the overwhelming emotional and psychological impact of losing her husband and children, transforming her family of four into a family of one. She continues to struggle with memories of the night, experiencing flashbacks and nightmares, describing the pain and loneliness as "insurmountable."

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I continue to struggle with memories of that day, and the emotional impact is something I will carry for the rest of my life. Now almost six years later, I still have flashbacks, nightmares, and relive that night over and over. It is like a recurring nightmare/dream that I cannot wake up from and the pain, the heartache, the desolation, the loneliness, the sadness and crippling fear is insurmountable.