Padraig O'Gara was the driver of the 3.05pm Sligo to Dublin train that struck and fatally injured mother-of-four Jessica McLoughlin, 40, near Ballisodare on June 14, 2023.
Mr O'Gara attended today's inquest at Sligo Crown Court. In his statement he told the coroner that he had just passed a long, sharp left bend when he saw the two women walking towards him further down the middle of the track.
He said he was going 60 miles per hour and immediately blew the horn and braked to emergency position. He said the two women went to the side of the track and while one of the women jumped clear, the other did not.
He said she was standing on the outside of the tracks, but remained on the tracks, crouched over. Mr O'Gara said he kept blowing the horn because he knew she was not being clear.
Mrs McLoughlin, of Rusheen Ard, Caltragh Co Sligo, suffered fatal injuries after she and her niece, Rebecca Leydon, 26, were involved in the collision. Coroner Eamonn MacGowan told Mr O'Gara he did everything he could and could not have done anything differently.
Mrs Leydon was also struck by the train and suffered a broken leg. In a statement, Mrs Leydon told the coroner that she and her aunt were taking the train to Dublin for a day out. She said she thought it was around 1pm and they had had a few drinks. She said they got off the train at Collooney because she left her phone in the shop in Sligo and she felt guilty about it.
They walked back along the railway line to Sligo, not knowing that a train was coming from Sligo. She said they heard the train's horn and when she looked, she didn't think it was going to hit them, but they were hit by the stairs.
Ms Leydon said she didn't remember much after that. She broke her leg and had staples in two places. “I miss my Aunt Jessica. She helped me a lot. When I was homeless, she gave me her bed,” Ms Leydon concluded in her statement.
Ticket inspector Greg Flanagan told the coroner he was in the rear cabin when the horn sounded and there were 100 passengers on board. He said he and the driver were the only Irish Rail personnel on board.
The train came to a complete stop and he saw a woman lying on the side of the line about 100 yards away. He told the driver that if he wanted to stay where he was and contact emergency services, he would come to the scene
Mr Flanagan said one of the women was crying and trying to get up, while the other was moaning and lying on the ground and he could see she had serious injuries. He told the women not to move and that emergency services were coming. He went back to the train and got the women a drink of water and told the driver that the two women were injured and that one was very serious. He returned to the women and stayed with them until emergency services arrived.
Paramedic Kieran Currid said in a statement read out by Sergeant Gráinne Fagan that he took the ambulance as far from the scene as possible and then walked along the railway line to the injured woman.
One of the women could talk and they knew she was alive. That's why he and his colleague Michael McGonigle treated the other woman. The woman was unresponsive with a large open wound on her lower left side. Initially she had a pulse and they treated the wound.
She went into cardiac arrest and they started CPR and a doctor arrived on scene. The doctor pronounced Mrs McLoughlin dead at the scene at 4.28pm.
Sergeant Fagan read her statement. She said she was on duty at Collooney Garda station at 3.45pm and had been informed of an incident on the railway line between Ballisodare and Collooney in which two women had been injured. She traveled to the scene and had a brief conversation with the driver, Padraig O'Gara, who said the train had collided with two women walking on the line.
He said he activated the emergency brakes and honked the horn, but the females did not leave the line in time to avoid contact. She was told that there were 100 passengers on board and that they had been instructed by Iarnrod Éireann not to disembark. The two women were treated by ambulance personnel. Rebecca McLoughlin was taken to Sligo University Hospital.
Sergeant Fagan said she had boarded the train and was viewing CCTV footage at the time of the collision. She saw Mrs Leydon and Mrs McLoughlin step off the track. Mrs McLoughlin then leaned forward but remained in the path of the train and was eventually hit.
Sergeant Fagan told the inquest she wanted to take this opportunity to send her sincere condolences to Ms McLoughlin's family.
Dt Gda Sandra Deery of Carrick-on-Shannon Garda Station said in her statement that paramedics were working on the two victims when she arrived at the scene. The driver, Padraig O'Gara, told her he honked but the woman did not clear the lane. She saved the scene and kept a log.
Garda Seamus McGowan of Coolaney Garda Station told the inquest he was on duty from 4pm, had to preserve the scene and escorted Jessica McLoughlin's body to the Sligo University Hospital mortuary at 8.50pm. At 9:31 p.m., Jessica McLoughlin's body was formally identified to him by her brother, Jason McLoughlin.
The autopsy was carried out by Dr Erich Langner at Sligo University Hospital on 15 June 2023. Dr. Langer said the decedent died of multiple injuries related to trauma from colliding with a train. Toxicology revealed the presence of alcohol, cocaine, diazepam and prescription medications, which may have played a significant role.
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict that Mrs McLoughlin had died from injuries sustained in a collision with a train, against a background of alcohol and drug intoxication.
Mr MacGowan said he wanted to express his condolences to Jessica's family, who attended the inquest, and in particular her niece Rebecca. He said Mrs McLoughlin was a young woman and it was such a shame. He also wished the operator, Mr O'Gara, all the best for the future. He said he did everything he could and couldn't do anything else. Sergeant Derek Butler also extended his sincere condolences to the family on behalf of An Garda Síochána. Mr Declan Hegarty (solicitor) on behalf of Iarnrod Éireann also extended his condolences to the family.