Bailey (Left) and Kate O’Connell with Tánaiste Bailey Is Suing Simon Coveney at the Dean Hotel, Dublin Top Hotel After in 2017
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N IRISH INDEPENDENT Monday, May 20, 2019 7 News Talking politics: Fine Gael Fine Gael TD TDs Maria Bailey (left) and Kate O’Connell with Tánaiste Bailey is suing Simon Coveney at the Dean Hotel, Dublin top hotel after in 2017. PHOTO: GARETH she fell off swing CHANEY Cormac McQuinn comment. The trendy hotel POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT was chosen for a high-profile launch of policy priorities by FINE GAEL TD Maria Bailey Simon Coveney during his has taken a personal injury battle against Leo Varadkar legal action against a well- for the Fine Gael leadership in known Dublin hotel, the Irish May 2017. Independent can reveal. Ms Bailey, who was a strong Ms Bailey, who represents supporter of Mr Coveney’s bid Dún Laoghaire, is suing the to succeed then Taoiseach Dean Hotel on Harcourt Street Enda Kenny, was present at for an alleged incident involv- that event. ing a swing that took place Another Fine Gael TD, Kate before she became a TD. O’Connell, acted as MC at the It is understood that the launch where she joked that claim relates to an alleged fall many of those present might from an internal swing at the be more familiar with the sur- hotel, which happened while roundings during the hours of Ms Bailey was visiting the darkness. hotel with friends. Ms Bailey is the chairperson It is believed that she will of the Oireachtas Housing claim negligence on the part Committee and a close ally of the hotel, which is defend- of Mr Coveney. She was first ing the claims. elected as a TD in the 2016 The revelation comes at a general election. She was a time when there is a sharp councillor for 12 years before political focus on personal winning her Dáil seat. injury claims and spiralling Her father, John Bailey, is insurance costs. an out-going Dún Laoghaire It is understood the alleged Rathdown councillor, who incident involved a fall that is seeking re-election in this occurred in 2015. week’s vote. Ms Bailey was a councillor The Dean Hotel was opened representing the Killiney/Bal- in late 2014 after the Harcourt lybrack ward of Dún Laoghaire Street building was given a County Council at the time. €5.5m overhaul. The case is listed among Ms Bailey is not the only Fine motions due to come before Gael TD to take a personal the Circuit Court County Reg- injury legal action in recent istrar today. years. It is recorded as “Maria Bai- In 2018, Dublin Fingal TD ley Ryan v Holtend Limited Alan Farrell was awarded trading as The Dean Hotel”. €2,500 in damages. His action Ms Bailey’s husband’s name followed a collision with a is James Ryan. rental van that left him with The maximum payout for minor injuries. The accident successful personal injury occurred when a woman in a actions in the Circuit Court Hertz rental van took her foot is €60,000. Ms Bailey refused off the brake when a spider ran to comment on the case when across her arm, frightening she was contacted last night. her while driving and causing A spokesperson for the her vehicle to roll into the back Dean Hotel also declined to of his Audi. Coveney offers help to find climber David Yo ung how the authorities could help. “We are willing to offer any THE Government will offer support we can, either finan- any support it can to efforts cial or organisational, she to find a missing climber knows that,” he told RTÉ. on Mount Everest, Tánaiste The Trinity College profes- Simon Coveney said. sor’s family has launched a Seamus ‘Shay’ Lawless, from fundraising campaign to help Bray, Co Wicklow, fell as he finance expensive search and descended the peak on Thurs- recovery efforts. day having just achieved a life- His relatives, who said Mr time ambition of reaching the Lawless’s insurers were not summit. assisting in the search, have Mr Coveney said he had set up a GoFundMe page with spoken to Mr Lawless’s wife a target of raising €750,000. It Pamela several times over the had raised €215,000 in a little weekend and had discussed over 36 hours. IRELAND’S BEST-SELLING NEWSPAPER Battle lines drawn The betrayal of Game of on €100m beef fund Thrones Inside: your new-look How the writers Farming Independent got it wrong Tuesday, May 21, 2019 €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) C TD who fell off swing wasn’t holding on properly, hotel claims Shane Phelan damages of up to €60,000 over she has accused the hotel of says she used to run 70km a In defence papers, the hotel LEGAL AFFAIRS EDITOR injuries she alleges she suf- negligence, saying the swing week before the incident, but alleges she failed to use the Deputy fered to her head, back and hip. was “unsupervised” and there has had to reduce this to less swing in a proper manner Maria A FINE Gael TD was holding The Dún Laoghaire TD says were no signs telling patrons than 20km. and held items in both hands, Bailey items in both her hands when she fell backwards out of an how to safely use it. The hotel is denying liabil- restricting her ability to bal- is suing she fell out of a swing, a hotel indoor swing while having her Ms Bailey claims she can no ity, saying that if any injury ance and preventing her from the she is suing claims. photo taken during a night out longer sit or stand for long was suffered, this was due to holding rope grips properly. Dean Maria Bailey (43) has sued with friends in 2015. periods without experiencing Ms Bailey’s own negligence or Hotel the Dean Hotel in Dublin for In circuit court proceedings, pain or discomfort. She also contributory negligence. Continued on Page 2 Boy pleaded Childcare with co-accused to call for Ana, crisis: €50m court is told Eimear Cotter black hole in A BOY accused of murdering schoolgirl Ana Kriegel had initially refused to call for her but agreed to do so after his co-accused repeatedly said to him “please, please, please”, a State scheme trial has heard. Boy B told Garda interviewers that he and Boy A were in his bedroom chatting when Boy A asked him to call for Ana. Kevin Doyle and Melanie Finn financial backing from Finance This was on the day that Ana Minister Paschal Donohoe. disappeared, the Central Criminal AN EXTRA €50m will have to be The National Childcare Scheme Court heard. found next year to plug a black hole comes in this November with sub- “At first I said ‘no’,” he said, “but in the Government’s new child- sidies of up to €5.10 per hour for then he started saying ‘please, please, care scheme, Children’s Minister babies placed in registered child- please’.” Katherine Zappone has warned. care facilities. But writing in today’s “At last I agreed,” Boy B said. The minister has acknowledged Irish Independent, Ms Zappone, an The two youths, aged 13 at the time, crèches are turning away babies and Independent TD, says: “To cut to the have pleaded not guilty to the mur- toddlers because they see pre-school- chase, an additional €50m will be der of Ana Kriegel (14) at Glenwood needed to deliver the first full year of House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, in our new scheme in 2020. Lucan, Dublin, on May 14 last year. “This is just the bottom line, I will Boy A has also denied a charge of Katherine Zappone: Standing still is be seeking investment in other initi- aggravated sexual assault. not an option – we must do more P4 atives in the early learning and care The jury has begun to hear the first and school-age childcare space to interview which gardaí conducted further address access, affordability with Boy B at Finglas garda station. ers as more lucrative, as reported in and quality.” Meanwhile, a forensic scientist told yesterday’s Irish Independent. Her comments mark an unprece- the court a black vest top found in the However, she insisted her depart- dented early ultimatum for Mr Dono- room near Ana’s body was stained ment’s “warning system” has iden- hoe ahead of next October’s Budget with semen which matched the DNA tified the issue and officials are negotiations. profile of Boy A. already working on a series of meas- Tragic: Schoolgirl Ana Kriegel (14), whose body was found in May of ures that will require substantial Continued on Page 4Flast year in an abandoned house in Lucan, Dublin. ull report: Page 6 Recommended retail price of the Irish Independent in ROI is €2.20 (£1.50 in Northern Ireland) Vol. 128 No. 121 Irish Independent 2 Tuesday, May 21, 2019 IRISH INDEPENDENT Inside today’s paper News Comment TD wasn’t holding We’re sleepwalking into biggest danger since the 1980s swing properly when Ian O’Doherty, P19 News World she fell, hotel claims Love rival killer Ex-PM calls for Quirke moved to probe into Farage prison near family and Brexit Party Continued from Page 1 Denies P7 P18 liability: The The endorsement of claim Dean Hotel filed in court by Ms Bailey’s on Harcourt solicitors makes no mention Street, Business Ryanair in talks with Boeing over 737 Max of her holding anything in her Dublin, jet compensation, says CEO P22 hands when she fell. Details where TD of the case have emerged at a Maria Bailey time when there is a consider- fell off an able political focus on personal indoor swing iLifestyle Sport injury awards and high insur- ance costs.