A verdict of accidental death has been returned by the jury in the inquest into the death of three young friends who drowned at Dunboy Castle in West Cork earlier this year.
21-year-old Colum Harrington from West End, Bere Island, 20-year-old Shane Kelly from Allihies, Co Cork and 17-year old Fintan O'Driscoll from Foildarrig, Castletownbere all died after their car toppled into the sea in the early hours of 1 March.
The inquest had opened last month when evidence was heard that none of the young victims had taken alcohol or drugs but it was adjourned until today so that an independent expert could give evidence on behalf of the Kelly and O'Driscoll families.
On that day, the two survivors 19-year-old Cillian O'Sullivan and 18-year-old Greg Harrington gave accounts of what happened on the night.
However, consulting motor engineer Liam Cotter was unable to give an exact cause for the accident.
He said he was satisfied that the Ford Fiesta being driven by Shane Kelly was in serviceable pre-accident condition and that contrary to evidence, there was no way he could have been attempting a handbrake turn at the site of the accident.
Mr Cotter agreed with the evidence of Garda Mark O'Connor that the car was probably travelling at about 15mph when it left the bank and landed upside down six metres from the shore.
Speaking at the close of the inquest, Coroner Frank O'Connell said there was ‘still no indication at all of anything other than the driver simply losing control and going over the edge’.
He said the court had heard that the car was driving up and down in front of the castle and there were some handbrake turns but for some reason as the car was driving along, it turned to the right and went out over the grass and bank but the court hadn’t been given a reason why this happened.
Mr O'Connell said it was certainly not due to any mechanical fault and the driver is unfortunately deceased so he could not tell the court what happened.
Mr O'Connell said it was not appropriate to speculate as to what may have happened, but unfortunately three young men had drowned, not because of any injuries, but because they had been trapped in the car.
After deliberating for 35 minutes, the six person jury returned a verdict of accidental death as a result of drowning in the case of all three young men.
