RNLI volunteer tells inquest into deaths of five family members in County Donegal how his efforts to reach submerged Audi were thwarted

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The pier in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, where five members of the same family drowned last year was the scene of at least three similar incidents in which vehicles lost control, an inquest has heard.

Sean McGrotty; his sons Mark, 12, and Evan, eight; his mother-in-law Ruth Daniels, and her 14-year-old sister, Jodie-Lee, died in March 2016 after McGrotty’s Audi Q7 slid off Buncrana pier into Lough Swilly.

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The inquest into their deaths, being held at the Lake of Shadows hotel in Buncrana, heard on Thursday that the pier was covered in algae, making the slipway into the lough as “slippery as ice”.

John O’Raw, a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) volunteer said that in his 17 years in the role he could recall three other incidents in which vehicles lost control on Buncrana pier.

O’Raw said he reached the sinking Audi about 40 minutes after the emergency services were called, but his attempts to get inside were hampered by a smashed window.

“I did not understand what I saw at the time,” O’Raw told the inquest.

At the time of the tragedy, Sean McGrotty’s wife, Louise, was returning from a weekend hen party in Liverpool when she learned about the deaths.

Only her baby daughter, Rioghnach-Ann, survived thanks to passerby David Walsh, who dived into the lough, swam to the sinking jeep and managed to rescue her. The former Irish footballer was awarded a bravery medal for his actions.

The inquest continues.