Concerns over liability issue for private laneways

Several laneways used by pedestrians to access public car parks in Westport are privately owned with liability for trips or falls lying with the owners, Westport-Belmullet Municipal District was told.

The information was provided in response to a query from Cathaoirleach of Westport Belmullet MD Cllr Peter Flynn, who cited laneways including one from Paddy Power’s, The Jester pub, Market Lane and Brewery Lane as being commonly used by the public. 

"Some of these are really in dire condition, the paving is coming up, the lighting is poor and the surface is slippery. I asked for this to be put on the agenda to formally recognise these are private laneways and my understanding is Mayo County Council has no plans to do anything with them, even though they are the main leads into our public carparks and any accident on them, there is no comeback on the council. I want that in black and white because this is getting worse by the day.” 

Cllr John O’Malley supported the call, saying he knew somebody who fell in one of them. 

Municipal district head Seamus O’Mongain said he could confirm the scenario as set out by Cllr Flynn, following which Cllr Flynn requested that a letter be sent to IPB Insurance (Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurance) to confirm the council will be absolved from any liability, “because these laneways are all leading into public carparks that we are making a lot of money on". Pointing out that people would be entitled to sue the private owners of the laneways, Cllr O’Malley asked: “Does that mean the people who own them could stop people from using them?”. Area engineer Heather Gibbons replied: “As access points it would not be in the interest of anyone to start blocking up the laneways as people would not be able to access their businesses”, adding: “There are access points to our car parks other than those laneways.” 

Cllr Flynn asked if the council has any plans to take the laneways over, to which the area engineer replied that no direction had been received to take them in charge.

Pointing out that some of the laneways consist of cobblestones and are very slippery, Cllr O’Malley asked would the council take them over if the owner requested it, to which the area engineer said they would first need to be inspected in terms of standards before taking in charge.

“This is not a good situation," added Cllr Flynn. "There are at least eight laneways that are vital arteries into our public car parks. Some of these laneways have really deteriorated in the last two years and there are legal cases coming."

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.