Ice rink boss says scale of personal injury awards is 'destroying' business

The man who runs some of Ireland’s biggest ice-skating rinks has hit out at the size of personal injuries awards being made by the courts.

The man who runs some of Ireland’s biggest ice-skating rinks has hit out at the size of personal injuries awards being made by the courts.

Bill Cremin, who runs Cool Running Events, the company behind the winter ice-skating rinks in Cork, Dublin, Mullingar, and Waterford, said the amount being awarded could lead to the end of ice-skating and other outdoor events in Ireland.

“We are asking, for the sake of our business, the businesses of other outdoor event organisers and the 200,000 people that go ice-skating every winter, that the scale of awards simply be proportionate to the scale of any injury,” he said.

He spoke out following a Court of Appeal decision to uphold a High Court judgement of €65,000 for a personal injuries claim arising out of an incident at their Dublin rink in 2015 in which a young girl suffered a hand injury.

“We began our business 15 years ago and, every year, over 200,000 people enjoy ice-skating at one of our purpose-built rinks,” Mr Cremin said.

“The vast majority of our customers have a very pleasant experience.

But there is an inherent risk in ice-skating and it’s ludicrous to go ice-skating and not expect to have a fall.

“The courts have told us that we have a duty of care to prevent people from falling when they’re ice-skating. We are now left wondering whether any insurer will insure us, on the back of this judgment.” 

He said people all over Europe enjoy ice-skating every winter but Ireland is the only country where the courts could effectively cease the activity through “the scale of disproportionate awards”.

Guidelines

The Judicial Council is currently preparing Personal Injuries Guidelines to replace the Book of Quantum which is designed to give guidance on the assessment of personal injury awards.

Last month, the Court of Appeal upheld the €65,000 award to a young girl who suffered a hand injury after she fell at a Cool Running Events pop-up ice rink at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre on December 30, 2015, and another patron skated over the back of her hand.

It was claimed there was overcrowding and inadequate supervision in the rink on the day when 285 people were present for that particular skating session.

The defendant denied the claims and alleged the girl voluntarily assumed the risk of being injured by an established doctrine which states someone who willingly puts themselves in a dangerous situation cannot sue for any resulting injuries.

Duty of care

In July 2018, the High Court’s Ms Justice Bronagh O’Hanlon awarded her €65,000 after finding the defendant failed to take reasonable care, was negligent in the safety and management of risk, and the accident was reasonably foreseeable.

The defendant also failed to make out the defence under the dangerous situation doctrine and had carried out no proper risk assessment or safety audit, the judge said.

Last month, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, on behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeal upheld the award saying there was “more than ample evidence” which entitled the High Court judge to conclude the defendant had been negligent and this caused the accident.