The High Court in Dublin has ruled in favour of Virgin Media Wholesale Limited in a ten-year old case involving an undersea fibre-optic cable in the Irish Sea.
The cable, installed in 1998 by NTL (now Virgin Media), is one of the main connections supporting internet and telecommunications between the two countries.
The court decision allows Virgin Media Wholesale Limited to recover over €345,000 in damages from the owners of the Wexford-based fishing trawler Lida Suzanna, due to damage caused to a subsea fibre-optic cable linking Ireland and Britain.
The damage occurred in January 2015 when the vessel was reported to have dredged over the cable while operating in the Irish Sea.
Justice Denis McDonald, in a 181-page judgement, found the vessel’s operators negligent for not taking sufficient steps to avoid damaging the subsea infrastructure.
The defence maintained that the fishing activity was lawful and argued that additional protections should have been implemented for the cable, as the area had been used for fishing for many years.
The court determined there was no contributory negligence on Virgin’s part and concluded the damage most likely resulted from the vessel towing its scallop dredges across the cable.
The ruling closes a protracted legal case and highlights concerns regarding the protection of undersea communication infrastructure in Ireland and surrounding regions.
Approximately 75% of transatlantic internet cables pass through or near Irish waters, which plays a significant role in maintaining connectivity between Europe and North America.
