€50k for swimmer who slipped on pier

A man who slipped on algae on the steps of a pier as he was about to go for a swim has been awarded €59,000 in High Court damages.

Self-employed barber, Joseph McGrath, aged 58, from Johnstown, Navan, Co Meath, sued Fingal County Council over the accident at the pier in Rush, Co Dublin, on July 27, 2009. He broke his arm and twisted his ankle and was out of work for three months.

He claimed the council was negligent in failing to make safe the pier, which it knew or should have known was in a dangerous condition and which was popular among bathers.