A major construction and roadworks company has been handed a €1.2 million fine over catastrophic health and safety lapses that led to the deaths of three members of an Irish family in a 2020 road crash, a court has ruled.
Whitemountain Quarries Limited, a subsidiary of the pan-European construction group Breedon Group, entered a guilty plea to charges of violating Ireland’s 2005 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act in relation to the R238 Greenbank Project near Quigley’s Point, County Donegal. The case was heard at Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court, where presiding judge Roderick Maguire outlined the full scope of the company’s failures.
On August 20, 2020, a car carrying the Mullan family left the unprotected roadway at the works site and plunged into Lough Foyle. The crash claimed the lives of 49-year-old father John Mullan, his six-year-old daughter Amelia, and 14-year-old stepson Tomás. John’s wife, Geraldine Mullan, was the only survivor of the incident.
Addressing the court during sentencing, Judge Maguire confirmed that the preventable deaths were a direct result of Whitemountain Quarries’ mismanagement of the roadworks site. He emphasized that the company failed to put in place basic protections for passing members of the public, turning a routine works zone into a lethal hazard. Calling the incident a devastating tragedy involving a beloved family, the judge praised Geraldine Mullan for the extraordinary dignity she maintained while giving evidence, in spite of overwhelming, unrelenting grief after losing her entire immediate family.
In a statement following the ruling, Whitemountain Quarries CEO Declan Carr extended a formal unreserved apology to the Mullan family. “I know nothing I say can change your loss… we will carry the responsibility for it… I am truly, truly sorry,” Carr said.
Speaking publicly after the court decision, Geraldine Mullan described the incident as a completely preventable collision, adding that the depth of her pain and the scale of her loss can never be put into words.