Sports club fails to prevent 'associate' member from suing over fall

Tolka Rovers AFC had argued that the man should be prevented from suing the club because he was an associate member

Tolka Rovers said if the accident occurred in the manner alleged, it was caused or contributed to by the failure of Joseph Connolly to take reasonable care for his own safety and in particular, his failure to watch where he was walking. File photo via Google Maps

A sports club is not entitled to prevent a man, who claims he fell and injured himself at its premises, from suing the club because he was an associate member, the High Court ruled.

Joseph Connolly (72), Cloonlara Road, Finglas South, Dublin, is suing Tolka Rovers AFC and Sports Club, Glasnevin, Dublin, over injuries he says he sustained while walking in the clubhouse car park on February 5, 2018.

He claims he had been drinking in the clubhouse with his wife and left to retrieve something from his car when, while walking at the side of the clubhouse, he fell because the pavement came to an abrupt end at the corner of the building and dropped a number of inches.

He says he suffered an injury to his shoulder and some months later had to undergo a right reverse total shoulder replacement operation. Mr Connolly claims the club was negligent because the area he fell was in an unsafe and dangerous condition and there was a failure to provide any, or any adequate, lighting there.

Tolka Rovers AFC, through club representative Dermot O'Connor, denies the claims.

It denies the area was in an unsafe and dangerous condition. If the accident occurred in the manner alleged, it was caused or contributed to by the failure of Mr Connolly to take reasonable care for his own safety and in particular, his failure to watch where he was walking, it pleads.

Associate membership

The club further raised the issue that, because Mr Connolly was a member of the club, the court should rule that he was preventing from suing. Mr Justice Anthony Barr was asked to deal with this membership issue as a preliminary point of law in advance of the main case.

In his ruling, the judge said he was entitled to bring the action because he was not a full or ordinary member of the club. He said the club was not entitled to create a category of "associate" member, which is what Mr Connolly was, because there was no provision in the club rules for such a category.

An associate member paid €15 a year and was entitled to socialise in the club bar and avail of a discount on drink as well as partake in certain sporting activities such as football, badminton, and bowls, the court heard. A person could become an associate member through an informal and oral nomination process.

The club argued that, in view of previous court decisions and the fact there were many such associate members, the court should adopt a commonsense approach and hold Mr Connolly was a member at the time.

On behalf of Mr Connolly it was argued, among other things, the club committee had attempted to rely on some ad hoc procedure which was totally outside the rules of the club.

Judge's ruling

Mr Justice Barr said while a court can and should adopt a commonsense and realistic approach to the interpretation of the rules of a club, it cannot ignore the rules.

The defendant had not tried to explain the introduction of associate membership, which was apparently brought in by the management committee at some unknown date and for some unknown reason, he said.

It was clear the club had ignored the provisions of one of its rules requiring that the name of the proposed member be displayed in a conspicuous place for at least two weeks prior to their election as a member, he said.

If the committee wished to create new categories of membership, it should have been put to the members at a general meeting and voted on in accordance with the rules, he said.

He found therefore Mr Connolly was, at the time of the accident, not a member of the club because he was not either a full member, or an ordinary member, as provided for under the rules.