\u2018We never got to say goodbye to him\u2019: family seek answers years after Naas hospital ambulance fireOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\nThe inquest was then listed to proceed last month but was adjourned at the request of all parties after issues were raised about disclosure of documents. <\/p>\n
Kildare county coroner Loretta Nolan criticised the HSA over delays in providing information and over the adequacy of its summary report about Mr Byrne\u2019s death, describing it as \u201ca very small report after a long investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Her predecessor as coroner, Denis Cusack, previously raised concerns about delays in receiving reports, particularly from the HSA. Its report landed last June, and Dr Nolan said she had to direct the authority to produce additional documents and exhibits, which she received just a week before the inquest date. <\/p>\n
She adjourned the inquest after lawyers for the family and other parties sought time to examine all relevant material and to identify necessary witnesses. <\/p>\n
Speaking on behalf of Mr Byrne\u2019s family following the adjournment, his son-in-law Michael Davis said they have \u201cendured nine years of grief, silence and unanswered questions\u201d.<\/p>\n
The ambulance fire and explosion that killed Mr Byrne was \u201can event so violent and so preventable that it should have triggered immediate accountability and reform\u201d but was instead met \u201cwith institutional indifference\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor nearly a decade, we have sought truth and compassion from the HSE, Health and Safety Authority, Health Products Regulatory Authority, BOC Gases, the ambulance service, and every investigative body involved,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Their efforts were met with \u201csilence\u201d, \u201cevasion\u201d and \u201cdelay\u201d. <\/p>\n
The DPP informed the family last January there would be no case to answer, as the labelling on the oxygen cylinders was deemed up to standard and in date, he said. \u201cWhile we accept the legal conclusion, it does not erase the deeper truth: something went catastrophically wrong, and no one has taken responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their legal team got just three weeks\u2019 notice of the inquest hearing, he said. <\/p>\n
The coroner initially decided to proceed with the inquest but then had to adjourn for reasons including failure to produce some documents and delays in providing others. <\/p>\n
Mr Byrne was \u201cdeeply loved\u201d and his death was \u201cnot just a tragedy, it was a systemic failure\u201d that was \u201ccompounded by the refusal of those responsible to face us, to explain, to acknowledge\u201d, Mr Davis said.<\/p>\n
The impact on the family is \u201cimmeasurable\u201d, he said. \u201cWe live with trauma, with the haunting image of how he died, and with the knowledge that no one has stood up to say: \u2018This was wrong.\u2019 We have buried Christopher, but not our questions.\u201d <\/p>\n
The family, he stressed, is not seeking to assign blame but \u201cto demand recognition that Christopher\u2019s life mattered\u201d.<\/p>\n
His family \u201cdeserves more than silence\u201d, he said. They want their statement to be \u201ca turning point\u201d, not just for them but for other families waiting for answers now and in the future. \u201cBecause this can happen again.\u201d <\/p>\n
In a response to the family\u2019s statement, the HSA said its investigation into the tragic death of Mr Byrne \u201cwas conducted thoroughly, independently, and in accordance with the highest of legal and ethical standards\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we cannot comment further, we wish to reaffirm that every action taken was guided by a commitment to transparency, due process, and respect for all those affected,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n
The HSE said the issues were a matter for the HSA and the coroner. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A family claims their nine-year quest for answers about their father\u2019s death in an ambulance fire has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,13959,18,13,14,6,16037,60,19,17,11,12,15,16,16209,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-116970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-director-of-public-prosecutions","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-health-and-safety-authority","16":"tag-hse","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-latest-news","20":"tag-latestnews","21":"tag-main-news","22":"tag-mainnews","23":"tag-naas","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}