An inquest into the death of a cyclist in Sligo has been opened and adjourned after his family sought full access to a forensic collision examination report.
Maurice Rice, of Rathanna in Sligo, and formerly of Dublin, was found with serious injuries in a cycle lane close to his home on Pearse Road on 13 December 2023.
Mr Rice, who was in his 50s, was pronounced dead at Sligo University Hospital.
During a brief hearing at Sligo Coroner's Court, his partner Olga Higgins and his family insisted on being furnished with "a full suite of documents" relating to his death, according to her Senior Counsel Damien Tansey.
He told Coroner Fergal Kelly was told that the fatality happened in an inward bound cycle lane on Pearse Road on a day when "a hazard had arisen in the general area when the traffic lights were defective".
Mr Tansey said that in order to warn road users about the broken traffic lights, Sligo County Council had installed a warning device in the cycle lane, anchored by a sand bag.
He said that Mr Rice’s family were requesting they be "furnished with the report of the forensic collision examination" and be given enough time to examine it thoroughly as they were usually "quite large detailed documents".
"There’s only one paragraph from the county council in relation to this tragedy," Mr Tansey said, adding that the family wanted to see everything from the local authority in relation to the case.
He applied for an adjournment of the inquest.
Counsel for Sligo County Council, Keith O’Grady BL, agreed to the request.
Garda Sergeant Derek Butler said the forensic collision examination report ran to 34 pages.
The coroner told Mr Tansey that he would provide him with a copy of the report within seven days.
He deemed Mr Rice’s inquest to have been opened and granted the adjournment until a date in April.
