Fianna Fáils candidate for the Dublin Bay South byelection has taken legal action over a skiing fall, claiming she was hurt when her guide did not watch her go down the slopes.
It was after the first run down the Andorran slopes at Arinsal on a 2015 ski tour that Deirdre Conroy says she expressed concerns to the groups instructor about the icy conditions.
There was very little snow on slopes, which were mostly brown, she claims, with a thin layer of man-made snow. When she raised her concerns about the conditions, she says the ski instructor told her , you havent seen ice yet.
The alleged exchanges have now come to light in High Court filings, following an accident shortly afterwards that left her with a fractured hip, one that needed replacement later.
Arinsal is a pretty village high in the mountains of northwest Andorra, the worlds 16th smallest country bordered by France to the north and by Spain to the south.
Together with other resorts, it forms part of Vallnord Pal-Arinsal ski district offers a fantastic variety of runs, as well as some great off-piste areas if youre in need of something a bit more challenging, according to local publicity.
Conroy, a member of Dublin City Council who is now running for Fianna Fáil in the Dublin Bay South byelection, says she sought a break an hour into the first ski session, and did so again within another hour, but skiing continued.
Ms Conroy, then a travel writer for the Irish Independent, was one of six journalists on the January 2015 trip, which was paid for by ski-tour operators Crystal Holidays.
A 2019 photograph of Cllr Conroy was the first time I was back on a horse since my accident. File photograph via Facebook
Making a left turn during a run down the slopes Ms Conroys right leg gave way, causing her to fall and fracture her hip. Doctors in Andorra, a tiny country located between France and Spain, placed a screw into her hip and femur.
