Neil Jordan settles court action over fall in front of Dublin Bus

Film director claimed bus drove at him in ‘aggressive manner’ on Dawson Street

Neil Jordan, who had had cruciate ligament surgery the previous week and was using a walking stick, was attempting to cross the pedestrian crossing at the top of Dawson Street. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times
Neil Jordan, who had had cruciate ligament surgery the previous week and was using a walking stick, was attempting to cross the pedestrian crossing at the top of Dawson Street. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times

Irish film director Neil Jordan has settled his High Court action over a fall in front of a Dublin Bus in the city centre.

Dublin Bus and one of its drivers had both denied liability over the incident, which involved no contact between the bus and Mr Jordan.

No details of the settlement, reached after day-long talks between the sides, were disclosed.

The 67-year-old director, of Sorrento Terrace, Dalkey, Co Dublin, sued over the incident at Dawson Street on April 19th, 2013.

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Mr Jordan, who had had cruciate ligament surgery the previous week and was using a walking stick, was attempting to cross the pedestrian crossing at the top of Dawson Street.

He said he had a pedestrian light which was green so he walked across the road.

He claimed, as he approached the other side of the road, suddenly and without warning, he was caused to fall to the ground when a bus came around the corner and drove at him in an “aggressive manner” before it “suddenly stopped”.

He claimed that he tried to get out of the way of the bus and fell as a result.

He claimed he suffered personal injuries, loss, damage, expense and was inconvenienced due to alleged negligence and breach of duty on the part of the defendants.

His case was listed for hearing in the High Court personal injuries list on Wednesday.

After several hours of talks between the sides, a settlement was reached and Ronnie Robbins SC, for Mr Jordan, secured various orders from the court registrar Margaret Mulligan, including an order for Mr Jordan's costs.

Mr Jordan was in court throughout the day while the talks continued between lawyers for the sides.

A native of Sligo, Mr Jordan won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Crying Game in 1992. His 1996 film Michael Collins was re-released on March 18th, 2016 for its 20th anniversary.

In previous media interviews, he claimed he experienced serious difficulty landing work for some time after the accident.

“I couldn’t move out of my house for about a year and for another two years I was kind of incapable – my movement was very restricted so I had to stop making films,” he said.

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan is the Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times