Park & Playground Accident Claims

The personal injury team here at McCarthy + Co Solicitors LLP acts for families whose children have been injured in public and private recreational spaces. To succeed, it must be shown that those responsible owed a duty of care, that they breached it through negligence, and that the injury resulted. Situations that can give rise to a claim include:

• a fall from equipment such as a slide, climbing frame, or monkey bars that lacked adequate guarding, or onto a hard or insufficiently cushioned surface;
• an injury caused by broken, rusted, or poorly maintained equipment;
• a slip or trip on a wet, icy, or poorly maintained surface, or over debris or an uneven area;
• clothing or a drawstring becoming caught in equipment, or a child becoming trapped in an unsafe gap or opening;
• a collision caused by an overcrowded or poorly laid-out play area; and
• a child reaching a nearby hazard, such as a road or water, through inadequate fencing.

If you or your child have been injured, you can arrange a time to speak with a solicitor here by completing our quick and confidential online form.

Who is responsible

Most public parks and playgrounds are maintained by the local city or county council, which, as the occupier of the space, owes a duty under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995, as amended in 2023, to take reasonable care for the safety of those who use it. The same duty applies to privately owned facilities, such as adventure centres and indoor play areas, whose owners are responsible for keeping them safe. Where a facility is not reasonably maintained, and a child is injured as a result, there may be grounds for a claim.

Playground equipment and safety surfacing in Ireland are covered by European standards, adopted by the National Standards Authority of Ireland as I.S. EN 1176 and I.S. EN 1177. While these standards are not, strictly, legal obligations, the courts treat them as the benchmark for what reasonable care requires, and they set out the inspection regimes that a responsible operator should follow. An operator who cannot produce records of the required inspections, or who failed to act on a hazard that an inspection had identified, may find it difficult to show that it took reasonable care.

Claiming on behalf of a child

A child cannot bring a claim in their own name. Instead, a parent or guardian brings it on the child’s behalf, acting as what the law calls a ‘next friend’. Where a claim is settled, the settlement must be approved by a judge, in a process known as an infant ruling, which exists to make sure the outcome is fair to the child. The compensation is then normally held by the Courts Service until the child reaches eighteen, although the court can release funds for the child’s benefit in the meantime.

The time limits also work differently for children. An adult generally has two years to bring a claim, but for a child that two-year period does not begin until their eighteenth birthday, so a claim can in principle be brought up to the age of twenty. Even so, it is usually far better to act early, while evidence such as CCTV footage and inspection records still exists and memories are fresh.