Ennis pothole nets €12k for tyre business in a matter of days
Yesterday, Clare County Council confirmed to Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) that it paid out over €2,100 from 13 separate claims relating to damage caused by the since repaired pothole.
According to Mr Meaney, the Claureen crater, along with a pothole labelled the “Fanore fissure” in north Clare, have cost the council €5,000 in pay-outs to motorists over 2012 and 2013.
However, owner of tyre repair business in Ennis, Pat Foudy, said that “the council got off lightly” in the number of claims made against the pothole in Claureen.
“People don’t know they can claim against the council for something like that and if the council paid out only €2,000 or so on that pothole, it has done well. Over the few days at Christmas, we would have had income of €12,000 from 70 wheels damaged by that single pothole.
“It was about a metre long, a foot deep, and a foot wide and the damage it did was incredible.
“The pothole opened up on Christmas Eve and I worked all through Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day, because you wouldn’t want to see people stuck. That’s our job. Potholes can be very dangerous — I wouldn’t have liked to have seen a motorbike go into that pothole at Claureen.
“Potholes are good for business of course, but people are short of money and getting your car damaged like that is something you can do without.”
In one case, the pothole on the coast road in Fanore cost the council €3,500 between a settlement of €3,369 and €142 in costs. Mr Meaney said: “One would think that the entire car fell into the pothole in Fanore judging from the payout involved. It was a very significant settlement.”
The 13 separate payouts concerning the Claureen crater total over €2,000 and range from €65 to five separate settlements over €240 with the top payment at €340.
Figures provided to Mr Meaney by the council show it has paid out over €7,000 to motorists whose cars have been damaged by potholes throughout the county over the past two years.
Yesterday, Mr Meaney travelled to the most damaged stretch of road in the county when he stepped into a massive road subsistence in the seaside resort of Kilkee.
After coming out of the 4ft-deep subsidence, he said: “This is one of the most important tourist routes in the west of Ireland and it is absolutely critical that works are carried out to repair the subsidence. The resort can’t function properly without it.
“The increase in the number of potholes has coincided not only with the bad weather but with annual council road budgets being cut back.
“The folly of this policy of cutting back can be seen from the amounts the council is paying out to motorists from damaged roads. Without the necessary repairs being carried out, the payout on potholes will only increase.”
By Niall Murray
There are no general rules for councils on liability for damages from motorists whose cars or other vehicles are damaged by potholes.
The Department of Environment and Local Government said it has no policy on the issue, and the Local Government Management Agency told the Irish Examiner there are no national guidelines on potholes for the local authority sector.
A year ago, Cork’s city manager Tim Lucey told members that Cork City Council was not liable for damages for loss or personal injury for failing to repair potholes. He said failure to do so comes within a defence of ‘non-feasance’ available to local authorities. He said no additional liability would be imposed on the council in relation to non-feasance, where a pothole had been identified and reported to it with a request for repair.
But, he said, the council would be liable if an accident happened after a repair had been carried out negligently, or if inadequate warning was given to road users.
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