Latest news with #Perspex
Sunday World
a day ago
- Sunday World
Man died at work after falling through roof of agricultural shed, court told
Liam Doherty (43) fell approximately six-and-half metres onto a concrete floor in an agricultural shed 'Workers' lives matter,' said the family of a man who died from injuries he received when falling through a roof as he installed solar panels. Liam Doherty (43), Clougherna, Ballyliffin, Co. Donegal, passed away at the scene on August 14, 2023. He fell approximately six-and-half metres onto a concrete floor in an agricultural shed at Bellingham Farms, Milestown, Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. He was working at the time for Brian Kelly of Solar Power Ireland BK Limited. Mr Kelly (58), Lower Illies, Buncrana, Co. Donegal, and the company were each accused of four breaches of the Health & Safety Act. He is Managing Director of Solar Power Ireland BK Limited and signed pleas of guilty to the charges on his own and the company's behalf. During a sentence hearing at Dundalk Circuit Court evidence was given that neither a lanyard nor harness system were in operation when Mr Doherty fell through Perspex which was acting as a skylight. In a Victim Impact Statement written on behalf of the family by his sister Róisín, she said that not enough attention was paid to safety in this line of work. 'Workers' lives matter. We hope there are no more deaths like this.' Inspector Eddie Wall, Health & Safety Authority, said that the accident occurred at 1.59pm. CCTV footage at ground level captured some part of it. No footage was played in court. Photographs of the area were handed up. Mr Doherty stepped onto a clear Perspex sheet and fell approximately six-and-a-half metres to a concrete floor. Brian Kelly was present with his two sons all of whom were working having been subcontracted to install solar panels. No safety harness was used, Mr Wall continued. A prohibition notice was served. The scene was examined by an engineer on August 28. The roof was of corrugated fibre cement roof sheeting with Perspex at intervals as skylights. Neither a lanyard nor harness system was being used. There was no project supervisor nor safe system of work plans. It was not identified that Perspex should be treated as a hazard. The root cause of the accident was not having in place the appropriate safe systems of work. "The work could not be carried out without risk to health,' the engineer found. Clear Perspex and corrugated sheeting was a fragile roof material. This work, at height, involved a particular risk, the engineer's report stated. Dundalk Courthouse A post mortem report outlined that Mr Doherty died from multiple traumatic injuries from a fall from height at work. The court heard that Brian Kelly was interviewed under caution and attended with a pre-prepared statement. He said that he, his two sons and Liam Doherty were working. He assessed the roof. The Perspex sheets were not safe to be walked on without laths across them. Liam was the only person standing on the roof. One of his sons was operating a lift to hoist the solar panels onto the roof. He heard the noise of Liam falling through the skylight. They all rushed down. Mr Kelly continued that he didn't know why Liam 'moved into an area outside the work zone'. He said that he lost a lifelong friend. He missed him every day. He was utterly devastated and heartbroken and found it difficult to talk about. Cross-examined by counsel, Inspector Wall said that Mr Doherty was directing where the solar panels were to be left down. It was possible he backed on to one of the Perspex sheets. Nobody saw the incident. There were no previous convictions against either Brian Kelly nor the company. The family's Victim Impact Statement said that the loss of a son, brother and uncle had caused so much pain and suffering. Liam, who was single, called to the home house every day that he wasn't away. He supported his mother and his disabled brother. Life had become infinitely harder for their mother. Liam Doherty Today's News in 90 Seconds - 08 July 2025 Defence senior counsel Garnet Orange said that this was a desperately sad situation. The Doherty family suffered a terrible loss. This incident happened 'in the blink of an eye'. It was not negligence or recklessness at the highest level but closer to a tragic accident. Complacency had developed into work practices. Handed into court were documents showing the financial picture of a company described by Mr Orange as a profitable business but not hugely profitable. Insurance was not an issue of concern. The company was no longer trading at the same level. Judge Dara Hayes expressed his deepest sympathy to the Doherty family, some of whom were present for the hearing having travelled from Inishowen. "Your brother should still be with us and should not have died.' The judge continued there were clearly serious offences, breaches of the Health & Safety Act which is there to guard against complacency. He said he wanted to take time to consider how to deal with the case and adjourned sentencing to July 8. Funded by courts reporting scheme.
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Donegal man died at work after falling through roof of agricultural shed
Liam Doherty (43), Clougherna, Ballyliffin, Co. Donegal, passed away at the scene on August 14, 2023. He fell approximately six-and-half metres onto a concrete floor in an agricultural shed at Bellingham Farms, Milestown, Castlebellingham, Co. Louth. Mr Kelly (58), Lower Illies, Buncrana, Co. Donegal, and the company were each accused of four breaches of the Health & Safety Act. He is Managing Director of Solar Power Ireland BK Limited and signed pleas of guilty to the charges on his own and the company's behalf. During a sentence hearing at Dundalk Circuit Court evidence was given that neither a lanyard nor harness system were in operation when Mr Doherty fell through Perspex which was acting as a skylight. In a Victim Impact Statement written on behalf of the family by his sister Róisín, she said that not enough attention was paid to safety in this line of work. 'Workers' lives matter. We hope there are no more deaths like this.' Inspector Eddie Wall, Health & Safety Authority, said that the accident occurred at 1.59pm. CCTV footage at ground level captured some part of it. No footage was played in court. Photographs of the area were handed up. Mr Doherty stepped onto a clear Perspex sheet and fell approximately six-and-a-half metres to a concrete floor. Brian Kelly was present with his two sons all of whom were working having been subcontracted to install solar panels. No safety harness was used, Mr Wall continued. A prohibition notice was served. The scene was examined by an engineer on August 28. The roof was of corrugated fibre cement roof sheeting with Perspex at intervals as skylights. Neither a lanyard nor harness system was being used. There was no project supervisor nor safe system of work plans. It was not identified that Perspex should be treated as a hazard. The root cause of the accident was not having in place the appropriate safe systems of work. "The work could not be carried out without risk to health,' the engineer found. Clear Perspex and corrugated sheeting was a fragile roof material. This work, at height, involved a particular risk, the engineer's report stated. A post mortem report outlined that Mr Doherty died from multiple traumatic injuries from a fall from height at work. The court heard that Brian Kelly was interviewed under caution and attended with a pre-prepared statement. He said that he, his two sons and Liam Doherty were working. He assessed the roof. The Perspex sheets were not safe to be walked on without laths across them. Liam was the only person standing on the roof. One of his sons was operating a lift to hoist the solar panels onto the roof. He heard the noise of Liam falling through the skylight. They all rushed down. Mr Kelly continued that he didn't know why Liam 'moved into an area outside the work zone'. He said that he lost a lifelong friend. He missed him every day. He was utterly devastated and heartbroken and found it difficult to talk about. Cross-examined by counsel, Inspector Wall said that Mr Doherty was directing where the solar panels were to be left down. It was possible he backed on to one of the Perspex sheets. Nobody saw the incident. There were no previous convictions against either Brian Kelly nor the company. The family's Victim Impact Statement said that the loss of a son, brother and uncle had caused so much pain and suffering. Liam, who was single, called to the home house every day that he wasn't away. He supported his mother and his disabled brother. Life had become infinitely harder for their mother. Defence senior counsel Garnet Orange said that this was a desperately sad situation. The Doherty family suffered a terrible loss. This incident happened 'in the blink of an eye'. It was not negligence or recklessness at the highest level but closer to a tragic accident. Complacency had developed into work practices. Handed into court were documents showing the financial picture of a company described by Mr Orange as a profitable business but not hugely profitable. Insurance was not an issue of concern. The company was no longer trading at the same level. Judge Dara Hayes expressed his deepest sympathy to the Doherty family, some of whom were present for the hearing having travelled from Inishowen. "Your brother should still be with us and should not have died.' The judge continued there were clearly serious offences, breaches of the Health & Safety Act which is there to guard against complacency. He said he wanted to take time to consider how to deal with the case and adjourned sentencing to July 8.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Epsom aims to put showpiece Classic back at level of Kentucky Derby
Having staged the draw for last year's Derby with hand-scrawled ping-pong balls outside the local Wetherspoons, the only way was up before the 246th running of the Epsom Classic and there was a welcome sense of occasion and sporting heritage as 19 runners – the biggest field since 2003 – were handed their spots in the starting stalls for the race on Saturday. For that, thanks were due in no small measure to the Football Association, which agreed to lend its famous balls, velvet bag and Perspex bowl, familiar from FA Cup draws gone by, for the ceremony. As Willie Carson, four times a winner of the Classic and on hand to draw the stall numbers, pointed out during the rehearsal, the FA's crest was still obvious on the bag. Advertisement Related: FA Cup balls are ready for a wide-open Derby with no obvious winner But if a little borrowing from elsewhere can help to rebuild the Derby's popularity and status, both locally and further afield, then Jim Allen, Epsom's new general manager, will ask away. 'I came here [to the local Picturehouse] to watch a movie a few months ago, and I thought it would be an ideal venue for the draw,' Allen said on Wednesday. 'I called a friend of mine at the FA to ask if there was any chance we could use their equipment, and within 45 minutes, they said: 'Yes.' 'We tried to get a set of starting stalls into town as well, which everybody was on board for, but it was the size of them, we just really couldn't quite fit them in, so we're looking at that for next year.' Allen never missed a Derby when he was growing up in nearby Croydon – 'it was the one day all year when I missed school' – but nearly a quarter of a century working in a variety of roles, including director of racing at Arena Racing Company from 2006 to 2015 and a spell training horses in the US and France, has kept him away from Epsom on the big day since the turn of the century. Advertisement He has thought of little else since his appointment last October, however, and this year the Classic meeting, which opens with the Oaks and Coronation Cup card on Friday, will be his first chance to put a stamp on the event, and tempt racegoers back to an occasion that has seen attendances decline steadily. The 2004 Derby drew 48,000 spectators, but 10 years later the figure had dropped to 34,000 and last year it was just under 27,000. 'It's my job to try to bring some of those crowds back,' Allen says. 'It will take a while to learn about Epsom, it's quite a complicated racecourse with its temporary-structure build, but basically we'll review everything, including the marketing, the promotion, and the temporary structures, and at the heart of it will be the race. I'd like to build everything around the race.' One of Allen's models for the Derby's future will be Louisville, Kentucky, where he has seen first-hand how the buildup to the Kentucky Derby takes over the city in the days before. 'We'd love to get it to that level,' he says. 'It'll take a bit of time but there's no reason why we can't. Epsom is a fantastic town and there are venues here to do all sorts of different things. And as we develop the strategy now, going forwards in the next six months and the next five years, the town will be a big part of that.' Advertisement Uttoxeter: 2.00 Miss Goldfire 2.30 Ernest Gray 3.00 Lost Connections 3.30 Baltray 4.00 Hecouldbetheone 4.33 Auntie Maggie 5.05 Crystal Mer. Hamilton: 2.12 Blue Nguru 2.42 Betweenthesticks 3.12 Sea Legend 3.42 Korker 4.12 Yermanthere 4.43 Sir Garfield (nap) 5.17 Arch Legend. Lingfield: 2.20 Dubai Harbour 2.50 Blewburton 3.20 Keybaar 3.50 Gallant 4.25 Touchwood 4.55 Maid In Chelsea. Chelmsford City: 5.00 Eclipser 5.35 Nifty 6.05 Smokey Malone 6.35 Hot Dancer 7.07 Danza Parigina 7.42 Maxident 8.17 Ornately (nb) 8.47 City Captain. Ffos Las: 6.15 Reina Del Mar 6.45 Unspeakable 7.20 Gavin 7.55 Ferret Jeeter 8.30 You Say Nothing 9.00 Twist Of Fatecatch. Advertisement The most significant news after the draw on Wednesday was the confirmation that Ryan Moore, Aidan O'Brien's stable jockey, will ride Delacroix, the winner of Leopardstown's Derby trial, from stall 14, while Colin Keane and Wayne Lordan will take the reins on his stable companions, The Lion In Winter and Lambourn, drawn in 19 and 10 respectively. Delacroix remains favourite at a top price of 3-1, with Ruling Court, the 2,000 Guineas winner, on 7-2 and Pride Of Arras, who took the Dante Stakes at York last month, at 5-1. The Lion In Winter is 6-1 to bounce back from his defeat when odds-on for the Dante, and it is 12-1 bar.
Irish Examiner
01-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Holiday at home? Feel the heat at Cork's Farnanes/Ovens where home has a sauna and BBQ + pizza oven
YOU don't have to go to the seaside, beaches or holiday hideaways for mobile saunas, mobile food trucks and a good time in the sun – you have the option here, to hand, on the doorstep, of this Currahaly, Farnanes family home. Get cookin' Set in Cork's Lee Valley, out along the N22 heading to Macroom and Kerry, 20 minutes from Cork's western suburbs and 10 or 15 mins from Ballincollig and EMC, this fresh-to-market offer is a detached family home on a south-facing, half acre site. It's one in a row of one-offs (all pretty substantial in size too) parallelling the N22, and comes with a detached garage/self contained studio apartment, outdoor barbecue area with pergola and wood-fired pizza oven. Indoors the main family bathroom has an infra-red sauna, so it's quite the self contained lifestyle property in its own right. Oh, and it even has a current layout with one of its front bedrooms being used as a home cinema, but the sale right now does not include the projector, or the wide screen, so new owners will have to make their own 'Coming Soon' plans for it. The spacious family home is listed with a €550,000 AMV via agent Michaella Buckley of O'Mahony Walsh in Ballincollig, who says it's immaculately maintained, on an attractively landscaped mature site with lots of trees and long, slightly elevated views over the Bride valley. One of its four/five bedrooms is en suite; at ground there are two reception rooms, home office and guest WC, utility/laundry and pine fitted kitchen with island and side access to the outdoor entertainment area, with decked base and Perspex roof/pergola sheltering the cooking equipment, gas grill, sink and integrated pizza oven. The Price Register shows over 20 sales in the past 15 years with a Currahaly address, with just three over €500,000, with two in the past two years, in 2023, Aisling at €580,000 and Rosemount House at €665,000, plus a further €100,000 for its lodge, in Farnanes' Lower Currahaly. VERDICT: Lots to enjoy in a setting just off the N22 and west of the city, 'burbs and Ballincollig, with the amenities of Farran, the wood and Inniscarra lake a few miles to the north, and Killarney now an easier reach to the west since the opening of the €200m Macroom bypass.
Scottish Sun
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
We woke up with a Banksy mural on our house… it's cost us over £400k and cursed our lives – he's an uncaring a**ehole
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) GERT and Garry Coutts were at home in North London when they had a strange call from the tenant renting their house in Lowestoft, Suffolk. Hearing that scaffolding had been erected overnight, they assumed that the council was fixing the chimney. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 12 Gert and Garry woke up to find a Banksy mural on the side of the house they owned Credit: Alamy 12 The seagull mural was the largest work yet by the anonymous street artist Credit: Oliv3r Drone Photography/ 12 The artwork ended up leaving the couple seriously out of pocket Credit: Supplied By the following morning it had disappeared to reveal a giant seagull, some 14ft in size, painted on the end of the wall of the house. It was the largest work ever done by the famous yet anonymous street artist, Banksy. In the foreground he had placed a real skip which had strips of insulation in it that resembled chips. The piece, which appeared in August 2021, attracted worldwide attention with hundreds of people flocking to the site, some putting their young children in the skip that the gull was dive-bombing, to take photographs. With talk of the art work being worth £3million, the stunned couple wondered what to do next. But instead of making them a fortune, the street art has caused them years of anguish left them seriously out of pocket. It eventually cost them in excess of £400,000 to have it removed and put in storage and they continue to fork out £3,000 a month to keep it there in the hope of eventually finding a buyer. 'It's not a seagull, it's an albatross!' says an angry Gert. 'At first you think you are gifted by Banksy but you are actually not.' Their extraordinary story and that of another seaside home owner in Margate, Kent, are told in the BBC Sounds podcast The Banksy Story: When Banksy Comes to Town, presented by James Peak. BANKING IN Moment new Banksy artwork is hauled away by council workers in high-vis jackets 'I didn't know what to think or what to do when I first saw it,' says Gert. Amidst all the commotion, the local council decided to act and asked the couple's permission to place a huge Perspex screen over the seagull. 'But it started hanging off because the wind got under it,' says Gert. 'The council then contacted us saying it could be dangerous to the public if it fell off and that we needed to replace it. I said, 'Surely it's your problem.' "They wanted to put a preservation order on it and we would be liable for the upkeep of the artwork at a cost of £40,000 a year. So, there you go Banksy. Does he realise what the consequences are of his art work - or does he care?' Depressed and sick The co-owner of Gert and Garry's house, Rod, managed to arrangea loan to get the wall removed. In a huge undertaking, the 16-tonne structure was lifted off by crane overnight. 12 The seagull artwork quickly become a popular spot for tourists and locals to pose for photos Credit: PA 12 It cost in excess of £400,000 to remove and store the artwork Credit: Oliv3r Drone Photography/ 12 Only the internal walls of the house were left when the mural was removed Credit: Andrew Styczynski After all costs were factored in, including road closure, it was an eye-watering sum in excess of £400,000. But while experts usually value the price of a Banksy artwork in the millions, the reality of selling it on is very different as the unfortunate trio soon discovered. All the auction houses they approached turn down the offer to try to sell it leaving Gert, Garry and Rod to pay £3,000 a month to keep it stored in a climate controlled-warehouse - and ruing the day Banksy came to town. 'I'm completely depressed and sick about it,' says Garry. 'I've done everything I can, tried to do the right things, and me and my wife have just had the p**s taken out of us. I'm so angry about what has gone on because of that a**ehole Banksy. It's as simple as that.' Rod adds: 'Banksy does these things without thought of the consequences – or doesn't give a damn about the consequences." To us he's an uncaring, unthinking person who has had a massive detrimental impact Rod 'He might say, just paint over it if you don't want it but if we did that the public would say, 'How dare you destroy such a phenomenal piece of art?' "We can't win. To us he's an uncaring, unthinking person who has had a massive detrimental impact. "It would have been great if we had got together and worked out how to get the artwork to remain in the public domain and, okay, we may want a little bit of money on top of that, but he has never come forward.' Repeat offender A similar tale happened to homeowner Sam, at her property in Margate. 'I was in bed on a miserable February morning when I checked my phone and there was a message from my tenant at the house, saying, 'Sam, we need to talk,'' she recalls. 'She added a picture of the house with a Banksy on it.' The work released on February 14, 2023 was called Valentine's Day Mascara and featured a painting of a 50s-style housewife wearing an apron and yellow washing-up gloves. With a missing front tooth and a swollen eye, she appears to have pushed her abusive husband into a real-life discarded freezer in front of the painting, with his protruding legs painted on the wall behind. 12 Banksy's "Valentine's Day Mascara" made use of rubbish that had been left in the street Credit: Reuters 12 A perspex screen was eventually placed over the artwork Credit: Getty Other real items included a frying pan at her feet with splashes of red on it, indicating it to be the bloodied murder weapon, an empty beer bottle and a broken white plastic garden chair. Intriguingly, Sam works with domestic abuse charities, suggesting that the siting may not have been a coincidence. 'I am Kent born and bred and have a long association with Margate. I used to go on holiday there,' says Sam. 'There are two sides to Margate that I know – those who don't have much money and who are really struggling on benefits, and the arty side with people from London who have gone there to capitalise on the property market. 12 "For me, as a social entrepreneur, I believe there are ways to do good and make money. So, I wanted this to do as much good for as many people as we could. "I thought we could use the art work to raise money for the domestic abuse charity, Oasis, in Margate. It would be great for the charity and for the town. 'The first thing I did was to Google, 'What do you do when you wake up with a Banksy on your wall?' I thought it would definitely provide the answers, step-by-step. But it said nothing. Despite all the money and the palaver and the global attention, he [Banksy] is just a vandal Sam 'So, I thought, right, I need to contact the council and find an art gallery that can advise me. "The first one I rang didn't really seem to get it, the second one was Red Eight and the guy who answered the phone said, 'We'll be there within an hour.'' But the problem for the town was that Banksy had decided to do this work in the style of fly-tipped junk – something the council had been criticised for not getting to grips with. Embarrassed by the public attention, council workmen were sent to remove the freezer and the other 'rubbish', leaving behind a by-now meaningless woman and disembodied pair of legs on the wall. Public pressure The public ridicule prompted a quick U-turn and they replaced the freezer but the frying pan had been lost in the rubbish tip. Red Eight chief executive Julian managed to track down the person who had pinched the three-legged chair and had to pay over the odds for its return. With the piece obviously so vulnerable, Julian and Sam went into partnership to have the wall removed for over £200,000 and placed on public exhibition at the Dreamland complex in Margate – along with the freezer and upturned chair – where they are hoping to one day find a buyer. 12 The cost of removing the mural came to more than £200,000 Credit: Chris Eades 12 The artwork now sits on display in Margate's Dreamland complex Credit: PA 12 Fortunately the fridge and chair were returned Credit: The Sun - Jane Matthews 'It's cost more than the house is worth! That's the bizarre thing,' says Sam. 'Somehow this has been gifted to us as our responsibility. The people of Margate also had a huge vested interest in it and that was really big pressure. "There's no precedent and it's easy to look back with hindsight but at the time you are very quickly making decisions on things you don't really understand or know anything about. "Despite all the money and the palaver and the global attention, he [Banksy] is just a vandal.' Rod, who has shared similar grief and expense with the 'Lowestoft Seagull,' shares Sam's despair. 'There's a certain amount of hypocrisy on Bankys's part,' he says. 'He does all these street art works, gets a massive amount of publicity for it, which boosts the price of his art work, but he's saying the people on whom he has imposed the artworks can't have anything. "They've got to live with the cost and the emotional disturbance. 'It's clearly very difficult to sell 16 tonnes of brick and a skip.' We have contacted Banksy's representatives for comment.
