lesson, hit wall

A married father of three from Bunclody, Co. Wexford su ered fatal injuries during his rst motorbike lesson after he collided with a wall at a training compound, an inquest has heard.

Paul Martin (48), from Cromogue, Bunclody, died at Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, on June 13, 2021.

He had been transferred there by air ambulance a few hours earlier from the Showgrounds in Enniscorthy, where he had been taking a professional driving lesson in the car park of the local greyhound stadium.

Evidence was heard that Mr Martin was training in stopping at a T-junction on a Suzuki SV650 motorbike but instead of turning, he drove straight into a concrete wall.

Mr Martin’s family told the inquest at the Dublin District Coroner’s Court that they were concerned how the circumstances of his death had been investigated by Gardaí, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

His wife, Mrs Rita Martin, described her late husband as “a very careful and cautious man”. She told coroner Aisling Gannon that she and her family had serious concerns about how his death had occurred and how it was investigated.

She said they had been left chasing the various authorities, seeking answers about her husband’s death and it had taken 20 months before his helmet and his training

EY consultants, why Ireland was top of the league table for such. She said estimates for 2020 arrived at by the OECD could be based on gures from a number of years ago when the population here was ageing more quickly than now.

However, Prof. Murray said it may be because Ireland was “relatively late in introducing screening programmes”. e Nordic countries have had cervical screening for decades whereas Ireland’s started only 10 to 15 years ago.

“As we know that disrupts the epidemiology of cancer and you detect it much more cancer early. It is the same with colorectal cancer.” e downward trend in cervi- cal cancer should also be seen in colorectal cancer but other countries are decades ahead of Ireland.

She said a unique identier linking patients across each service is long overdue and there is a need for proper data to allow for better decision-making.

Prof. Murray said: “At the moment our systems are not t for purpose. We need substantial investment to get to real-time data for managing health services and seeing outcomes.”

Money was money was being invested in cancer care but she did not know why it was not better aiding survival. “We just don’t know. We have to invest in our information systems,” she said.

An electrical safety video for farmers has been launched.

Produced by the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (FSPAC) it shows John Stone, a dairy farmer, demonstrating the changes he has logbook were returned to her, the inquest heard. e couple’s son, Josh Martin, told the inquest that seeing his father in hospital was “like a horror lm as his head was cracked open like an egg”.

He claimed HSA inspectors had not visited the site until two days after the incident and had not returned calls from his family.