AS the inquest into the death of Dunmanway rally driver Eoin McCarthy (22) continues at the Cork Courthouse until tomorrow (Friday), the opening day last Tuesday heard it was several months before a statement was taken from his co-driver, Dripsey's Daniel O'Brien, while an experienced marshal was of the opinion that the rally should not have gone ahead due to adverse conditions that pertained on the day. Another marshal had concerns about the accident location from the beginning.

Eoin McCarthy, a member of a well-known and popular motorsport family and a prominent GAA player with Kilbree/Kilmeen and rugby player with Dunmanway, lost his life following an accident on the Castleisland-based Killarney Forest Rally in February 2022.

Details of the accident scene at Mount Eagle, near Castleisland, were given by Garda Sergeant Tomás Barry through a series of maps and photographs, while a short video clip of the accident showed a red Honda Civic approaching an unrailed bridge (that had a bale placed at either end) before it spun backwards and landed on its roof into flooded waters.

A statement from Eoin McCarthy's co-driver, Daniel O'Brien, read by Inspector Fergus Twomey, detailed their participation in the rally. En route to the Mount Eagle stage (SS4 – a repeat of SS1), it rained very heavily. Some two miles into the stage, on a downhill section, they approached the bridge and O'Brien called a double caution from his pacenotes.

Mr. O'Brien reckoned their car was travelling about 15kp/h when it began to slide before it went off the bridge (backwards) and rolled slowly before ending up on its roof in the muddy flooded waters.

He tried desperately to free Eoin McCarthy from the car that was submerged in the water. He eventually extricated himself but Eoin McCarthy was still in the car, unresponsive and wearing his helmet.

Having received medical attention, Mr. O'Brien was removed from the scene by an ambulance that, later, slid off the track.

A replacement ambulance couldn't pass the stricken ambulance and a jeep was used to bring Mr. O'Brien to a Red Cross ambulance at the service park, from where he was taken to Tralee General Hospital.

The McCarthy family paid tribute to Mr. O'Brien for his heroic efforts in trying to save Eoin.

State pathologist Margaret Bolster revealed the official cause of Eoin McCarthy's death as Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE), explaining that as he (Eoin) was suspended upside down and submerged in water, it caused cardiac arrest, resulting in a chronic shortage of oxygen to the brain.

A rally marshal, Mark Dolphin, told the court that he was of the opinion that the rally should not have taken place. He said that trees at his location (the next junction after the accident location) were falling behind him.

He reported this to an official and was told that they (the trees) were not blocking the stage.

A senior Motorsport Ireland official, Derek Cummins, who was at the rally in an unofficial capacity and saw the accident taking place, informed the court that he didn't see any of the rally officials stopping at the location when they traversed the route prior to the competing cars.

Rally co-driver Eoghan McCarthy said he wasn't requested to give any statement about the accident to either the gardaí or Motorsport Ireland.