“My life was changed forever a year ago when I lost my daughter, Ashley and my niece Olivia when a balcony they were standing on collapsed in Berkeley, California and they and four other students fell to their deaths.”
Ireland was brought to a standstill in July 2015 when it emerged that five Irish students and one Irish-American student had died in a tragic balcony collapse in Berkeley, California.
Jackie Donohoe, the mother of Ashley Donohue and Olivia Burke who both passed away in the collapse, has started a petition in order to make sure that nobody else ever dies in California as a result of an unsafe and un-inspected balcony.
By signing the petition, you are voicing support for SB 465, a bill in the California State Legislature that serves as a “first step” to “stronger standards for materials used in building balconies, mandate annual balcony inspections, and standardised training for building inspectors.”
The petition has a target of 10,000 signatures and is already well on its way. Your signature could be crucial in making sure that people are kept safe in future.
In Jackie’s own words: “I have created this petition in honor of all those who were injured and those who no longer have a voice: Aoife Beary, Clodagh Cogley, Jack Halpin, Niall Murray, Sean Fahy, Conor Flynn, Hannah Waters, Olivia Burke, forever 21; Eoghan Culligan, forever 21; Niccolai Schuster, forever 21; Lorcan Miller, forever 21; and Eimear Walsh, forever 21; and my beloved daughter Ashley Donohoe, who had just turned 22.”
You can add your signature to the petition here.
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