Doherty v Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Ltd

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date11 February 1968
Date11 February 1968
Docket Number[1964. No. 1897 P.]
CourtSupreme Court
(S.C.)
Doherty
and
Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Ltd

Breach - Whether duty absolute - Personal injuries - Damages - Factories Act, 1955, s. 34.

The plaintiff, who was 33 years old and an employee of the defendants, was injured in the defendants' factory when the hook of a crane broke and the load, being carried by the crane, fell on him. As a result of the accident the plaintiff suffered from permanent, and almost complete, paralysis. The plaintiff claimed that the defendants had been in breach of a statutory duty imposed by s. 34 (1) (a) of the Factories Act, 1955. That sub-section enacts that lifting tackle shall not be used for the purpose of raising or lowering persons, goods or materials unless it is of good construction, sound material, adequate strength and free from patent defect. The trial judge ruled that the defendants had been in breach of an absolute duty to refrain from using the hook of the crane for such purposes while it was of inadequate strength. The jury assessed damages at £72,500 of which approximately £34,500 could be attributed to general damages. Held by the Supreme Court ( Ó Dálaigh C.J., Lavery, Haugh and Walsh JJ.; O'Keeffe J. dubitante), 1, that the provisions of...

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20 cases
  • Barry (A Minor) v National Maternity Hospital
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 27 May 2011
    ...THE NATIONAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL AND PETER LENEHAN DEFENDANTS ROBERTS v JOHNSTONE 1989 QB 878 DOHERTY v BOWATERS IRISH WALL BOARD MILLS LTD 1968 IR 277 WILLIT v NORTH BEDFORDSHIRE HEALTH AUTHORITY 1993 PIQR Q 166 DAMAGES Accommodation Compensation - Minor - Assessment of damages for accommo......
  • Morrissey v Health Service Executive
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 19 March 2020
    ...to recover for their lost years in a personal injury action brought before their death. In Doherty v. Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Ltd [1968] I.R. 277, it was Walsh J.'s view that the sum to be considered in this regard was the plaintiff's loss of earnings during the period by which his o......
  • Thompson v Dublin Bus
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 5 March 2015
    ...of other statutory provisions from the Factories Act 1955 and the Mines and Quarries Act 1965 and to decisions such as Doherty v. Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Ltd. [1968] I.R. 277 and Gallagher v. Mogul of Ireland Ltd. [1975] 1 I.R. 204 which considered statutes imposing what was said to ......
  • Morrissey v Health Service Executive
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 3 May 2019
    ...lost years’. This view was favoured by Walsh J. in the Supreme Court decision of Doherty v. Bowaters Irish Wallboard Mills Limited [1968] I.R. 277 at page 285. 193 I am aware that the principle of ‘ lost years’ has been criticised on a number of grounds including a ‘ flood gates’ argument.......
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