An inquest into the death of a man who died while working clearing trees for the construction of a windfarm in Co Donegal has returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
The inquest into the death of Jonathan Gormley heard that he had not been seen for about two-and-a-half hours by the colleague who found him.
Mr Gormley, aged 29 and the father of two young children, died shortly before Christmas 2015 while working clearing trees at the site of Meenadreen Windfarm.
Joe Devaney told the inquest that Mr Gormley, who lived in Ernedale Heights in Ballyshannon, was a saw man who cut trees ahead of him and he would then clear them with a harvesting machine.
On the day of Mr Gormley's death, Mr Devaney said he last saw him around 11.30am or 12pm on 21 December when they had a chat and a cigarette together and then Mr Gormely went to work on a hill.
It was a windy day.
Mr Devaney said he rang Mr Gormley's mobile phone four times between 2.17pm and 2.36pm but got no answer and got worried.
He went to look for him and found Mr Gormley on his knees with a tree down on his shoulder, with his helmet on.
Mr Devaney said he could not find Mr Gormley's pulse.
He said he was unable to lift the tree off him and phoned the owner of the company they worked for, Thomas Kelly, who was nearby.
He dialled 999 and when the operator gave him the go-ahead, he cut the tree which was on Mr Gormley and they laid him out to do CPR.
When the ambulance crew arrived, they gave him oxygen and continued CPR but a doctor who came to the scene pronounced him dead.
Mr Devaney agreed with the solicitor representing Mr Gormley's family, Damien Tansey, that there should be more frequent contact between workers in forestry than two-and-a-half hours and that more supervision would be important.
He also agreed with Mr Tansey that a chainsaw worker should never work alone.
The owner of the company for which Mr Gormley was working at the time of his death said that Mr Gormley had not been directed to work in the area in which he was found and that he was supposed to be working with the harvester.
Mr Gormley was working as a subcontractor for Softwood Ltd, a timber harvesting company which had been awarded a tender to clear trees at the site of the Meenadreen Windfarm in the Barnesmore area of Donegal.
The owner of the company, Thomas Kelly, told the inquest that Mr Gormley was a great worker who never wanted to be idle and always had a smile on his face.
Mr Kelly said on 21 December 2015, Mr Devaney rang him sounding upset and told him "there's a tree on the saw man".
When he arrived at the scene, Mr Kelly said that Mr Gormley was crouched down with a tree on his left shoulder.
The pine tree was approximately 28 to 30 feet long and about eight or nine inches in diameter.
He said it seemed to him the tree had fallen about 10 or 12 feet from behind Mr Gormley before hitting him, caused by wind he presumed.
Mr Kelly said that Mr Gormley had gone to that area of his own accord and had not been directed to go there.
Mr Tansey put it to him that Mr Gormley was carrying out the work Softwood had been contracted to do and Mr Kelly said yes but that work was to be done with a mechanical harvester.
The inquest heard that the distance between Mr Gormley and his colleague at the time of his death was about 150 yards to 170 yards.
Mr Tansey put it to Mr Kelly that according to his company's safety statement "under no circumstances should anyone work a chainsaw when alone".
Mr Kelly agreed but said that Mr Gormley was not alone and that the distance between him and his colleague was still acting within the safety statement.
Dr Caitriona Dillon, who carried out a post-mortem examination on the body of Mr Gormley at Letterkenny Hospital, said the cause of death was traumatic or mechanical asphyxia secondary to compression of the chest due to a fallen tree.
Dr Dillon said that Mr Gormley would probably have been unconscious within two or three minutes and died soon afterwards.
It was put to her by the solicitor for Mr Gormley's family that if the pressure had been relieved he might have been saved. She agreed that had the tree been removed he might have survived as his injuries were quite minor.
The solicitor representing Mr Gormley's family has confirmed that they are now pursuing a civil action in relation to his death.
Mr Tansey said the verdict of death by misadventure was a relief for Mr Gormley's family and his partner Mairead with whom he had two children, now aged seven and five.
He said the inquest brings closure in a sense but that some of the evidence they heard was quite alarming.
The family is now taking legal action against 17 defendants.
