{"id":1164328,"date":"2026-08-23T05:55:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T05:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1164328\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T05:55:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T05:55:28","slug":"half-a-million-in-compensation-paid-out-over-injuries-at-northern-irelands-playparks-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1164328\/","title":{"rendered":"Half a million in compensation paid out over injuries at Northern Ireland\u2019s playparks \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than half a million has been paid out by Northern Ireland\u2019s councils<\/a> in compensation and fees<\/a> relating to injuries sustained at their playparks<\/a> over the past five years \u2013 with the single largest payout setting one council back \u00a375,000.<\/p>\n

In total, at least 320 incidents were reported across more than 150 playparks in 11 council areas since 2021.<\/p>\n

In response to Freedom of Information requests, seven local authorities provided compensation and fee figures to The Irish News, which totalled \u00a3567,712.55. <\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Patient waited more than 16 hours for emergency surgery ambulance transfer<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Former<\/a>\"Security<\/a><\/p>\n

The actual figure is likely to be even higher. <\/p>\n

\"WallaceThe playpark at Lisburn’s Wallace Park recorded 10 injuries, including three in the past year PICTURE: HUGH RUSSELL <\/p>\n

Both Mid & East Antrim (MEA)<\/a> and Newry, Mourne and Down (NMD)<\/a> councils said that they did not hold the information as \u201call claims and settlement, if any, is subrogated\u201d to their insurers. <\/p>\n

Lisburn & Castlereagh Council<\/a> and Causeway Coast & Glens Council<\/a> said that they paid out no compensation in the past five years.<\/p>\n

For the councils that did provide figures, Antrim & Newtownabbey<\/a> came out on top at \u00a3188,703, followed by Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon<\/a> (\u00a3151,978) and Fermanagh & Omagh<\/a> (\u00a375,000).<\/p>\n

Fermanagh & Omagh recorded the single highest payment at \u00a375,000. <\/p>\n

The next largest single compensation payment was made by the local authority in Mid Ulster<\/a> at \u00a347,500.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The highest number of injuries was recorded in the Ards & North Down<\/a> area, with 106 reports. However, there was only one payout of \u00a310,600 in relation to injuries.<\/p>\n

This council area also held the park with the highest single number of incidents \u2013 Ards Blair Mayne Playpark, with 42 reported injuries.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News, injury solicitor and partner at Paschal O\u2019Hare, Seymour Major, said that the majority of enquiries they receive about park injuries are \u201cnot actually the fault of the council\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven when there\u2019s a serious injury, it doesn\u2019t always mean the councils are at fault,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren can seriously injure themselves just through ordinary course of play. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do take it on, it tends to be because of an equipment malfunction or equipment that\u2019s not really fit for purpose that hasn\u2019t been thought out properly in its design.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Major said that when parents do approach them relating to injuries their children have sustained, it \u201ctends to be because it\u2019s been quite a serious incident\u201d, with injuries ranging from fractures of the legs, arms or shoulders to bad gashes to the head and scarring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very difficult for the parents or guardians, particularly when there\u2019s been a very serious injury, because a lot of the time it affects them in terms of, if they\u2019re working, they\u2019re going to have to take time off work to care for their child,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose types of cases tend to be complex on liability and hard fought by the council. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s rarely any mechanism for getting an interim payment for the parents or anything for care or anything like that. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSo quite often they\u2019re left a bit financially in the lurch for a while whilst the claim has been dealt with and they often take a long time because of the liability issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councils said that the safety and wellbeing of children and families at their parks was their priority, with equipment and checks carried out in line with national standards.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Belfast City Council said that they manage and maintain over 100 parks across the city, and while they \u201cdeeply regret any injury\u201d that occurs on their premises, \u201cthe figures recorded over the past five years represent a very small percentage of the millions of visits to our parks during this period\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ards & North Down Borough Council said that it takes play safety \u201cextremely seriously\u201d and that the figures quoted reflect the \u201cstrength of [their] reporting culture rather than a higher level of risk\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cArds Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex is one of our busiest sites, with staff on hand to record every incident reported to them, and many other entries relate to Council\u2011run summer schemes where staff are required to document any injury, however minor,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur robust reporting system allows us to review every incident and make improvements where needed, and we are grateful to residents who alert us quickly to any issues so they can be addressed without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, a spokesperson for MEA Council said that they have a \u201crobust inspection and repair process\u201d and that following any incidents, when appropriate, \u201cmitigation measures are implemented to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future\u201d. <\/p>\n

Antrim and Newtownabbey Council said that the occurrence of an accident or claim \u201cdoes not necessarily indicate that the equipment was unsafe or that the council was at fault\u201d. <\/p>\n

They added that their commitment to inspection, maintenance and improvement across its playparks was demonstrated by a \u00a32m investment project announced this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than half a million has been paid out by Northern Ireland\u2019s councils in compensation and fees relating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1164329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1442,5034,1866,1144,1687,16,15],"class_list":["post-1164328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-competition","tag-council","tag-injuries","tag-northern-ireland","tag-park","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117143283432492779","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1164329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}