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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Jun 1995

Vol. 454 No. 1

Written Answers. - Lives Lost at Sea.

Peter Barry

Question:

171 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that inquests were not held into the deaths of two Irish citizens who lost their lives at sea in 1993; the person who has responsibility for the inquests; and if he will make a statement on the matter in view of the concerns being expressed by the families of the victims. [10290/95]

It is understood that the two Irish citizens referred to lost their lives in the collision between the tanker, British Trent and the bulk carrier, Western Winner off the Belgian coast on 3 June 1993.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom Department of Transport which carried out an investigation into the casualty attributed death of the nine crew of the British Trent to smoke inhalation following jumping into the sea among patches of burning cargo. Both vessels had failed to comply with the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea in conditions of restricted visibility. The Dorset coroner attributed death to unlawful killing by the master of the Western Winner.

The Minister for the Marine has no function in relation to the holding of inquests but he is prepared to use his good offices in co-operating with other Ministers with responsibilities in this area. The attention of the Minister was first drawn on 27 March 1995 to the fact that inquests had not been held into these deaths. At that stage the relatives of the four English seamen who were lost in the collision have succeeded in retaining a Coroner in Dorset to carry out an inquest into the deaths of the UK nationals. The Dorset coroner was unable to conduct an inquest into the deaths of the two Irishmen as their bodies had not been returned to England and, therefore, he had not got jurisdiction under the UK Coroners' Act, 1988.

An inquest could not be held under the Irish Coroners' Act, 1962 as there was no post-mortem/autopsy or inquest report from the Belgium authorities and the Irish authorities had not been notified of the arrival of the remains in the State in mid-1993. So far attempts by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Justice to establish a case for an Irish inquest have not been successful.

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