On June 16, 2015, shortly after midnight, five Irish

J-1 visa A J-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa issued by the United States to research scholars, professors and exchange visitors participating in programs that promote cultural exchange, especially to obtain medical or business training within the U.S. All ...

students and one

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

died and seven others were injured after a balcony on which they were standing collapsed. The group was celebrating a 21st birthday party in Berkeley,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The balcony was on the 5th floor of an apartment building at 2020 Kittredge Street in Berkeley, then called Library Gardens. The

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alam ...

launched a criminal probe into the incident. In January 2022, one of the injured died from a stroke related to the injuries. In June 2015, Mayor

Tom Bates Thomas H. Bates (born February 9, 1938) was the 21st mayor of Berkeley, California, and a member of the California State Assembly. Bates is married to Loni Hancock, another former mayor of Berkeley and State Assembly member who served in the C ...

of Berkeley promised a wide-ranging investigation into the cause of the accident. The evidence is overwhelming that dry rot from improper construction caused the collapse, not the weight of the 13 students.

Victims

Six people died in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. They were identified as 22-year-old Ashley Donohoe, and Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai "Nick" Schuster, Lorcán Miller and Eimear Walsh, all aged 21. All six were Irish and from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. On 2 January 2022, survivor Aoife Beary died of a stroke, the consequence of injuries sustained in the collapse.

Investigation

Alameda County prosecutors opened up an investigation in the accident on June 25. They stated that involuntary manslaughter charges could be filed. On that day,

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a ...

Nancy O'Malley Nancy O'Malley was the District Attorney for Alameda County, California. Biography O'Malley was appointed as DA for Alameda County in 2009 by the board of supervisors when her predecessor retired. She ran unopposed in 2010 and 2014. In Novem ...

denied that pressure from the Irish community led to the collapse inquiry. On July 3, 2015, the

Alameda County Superior Court The Alameda County Superior Court, officially the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions ...

rejected a

restraining order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protecti ...

bid by Segue Builders, a construction company, against the examination of evidence. O'Malley had argued the granting of a restraining order would interfere with her duty to investigate the tragedy.

Funerals

A joint funeral service for Olivia Burke and her cousin Ashley Donohoe took place on June 20, four days after the collapse, in a church in Cotati, California. Funeral services were held in

for the other victims.

Litigation

In December 2015 a court was told that the collapse happened because contractors cut corners to save costs and that the management company for the building,

Greystar Real Estate Partners Greystar Real Estate Partners is an international real estate developer and manager based in the United States. As of April 2019, Greystar had $32 billion in gross assets under management, and operated in nine countries in 2022. Greystar was t ...

, ignored a "red flag" when students who rented the apartment complained about mushrooms growing on the balcony. Legal cases by some of the victims were set to be combined and heard together. By the end of 2017 it was reported that most of the lawsuits had been settled.

References

{{reflist 2015 disasters in the United States 2015 in California 21st century in Berkeley, California Building and structure collapses in 2015 Ireland–United States relations Building and structure collapses in the United States

Victims

Investigation

Funerals

Litigation

See also

References