Tributes pour in as four people killed in separate road tragedies
Tributes have been paid after four people lost their lives on Irish roads in separate incidents over the past few days – meaning that 38 people have now been killed in crashes so far this year.
A nationwide roads policing operation has been underway since last Thursday.
Gardaí revealed that in the first 96 hours of the operation, 139 people were arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant (alcohol and drugs), almost 3,500 drivers were caught speeding and over 265 were detected holding a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.
A 21-year-old man was killed in a single-vehicle road crash on the N4 near Ballinafid, Co. Westmeath. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
Yesterday, a cyclist in his 70s was killed at around lunchtime after he was involved in a collision with a truck in Balbriggan, north Dublin. The incident occurred on Dublin Street in the town and a man in his 30s was arrested at the scene.
Last Thursday, an American tourist died and her teenage daughter was seriously injured after a two-car collision on the N51 at Boyerstown, outside Navan, Co. Meath, at around 7.45am.
Tragic mother-of-four Courtney Terrell, 40, had been visiting Ireland with her husband Mark and their two youngest children. Her daughter Margo, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was airlifted to Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street.
Cortney Terrell. Pic: GoFundMe
The driver of the car and another female passenger were also seriously injured and were taken by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, while the driver of the other car was also hospitalised.
An online fundraiser set up for Ms Terrell’s family in the state of Illinois raised more than €20,000 in just three days.
Mark paid tribute to his ‘beautiful wife and best friend’ on social media on Friday. He wrote: ‘This is something I never thought I’d have to post.
Pic: Colin Keegan/ Collins, Dublin
‘Yesterday morning, my wife Courtney Terrell and daughter Margo were in a terrible car accident in Ireland and my beautiful wife and best friend passed away from her injuries. Margo has underwent many surgeries since yesterday and has yet another one to go through on Monday. We have a very long road ahead of us with all of this.
‘Please pray hard for my kids to get through this. Please keep us all in mind and please pray Margo recovers completely and as quickly as physically possible so we can return back to the US.’
Emer Tóibín, Aontú councillor for Navan, told Extra.ie she believes the frequency of fatal road crashes has spiralled out of control.
She said: ‘It is incredibly tragic to think about somebody on holidays and then they get their lives completely turned upside down.
‘It must be incredibly hard for her husband and family because their daughter is in hospital getting treatment for her injuries.
‘We are all hopeful for the daughter to pull through and it’s a very close-knit rural area who will support the family members that the American mother and daughter were here to visit.
‘There seems to be more road accidents in the last few weeks and everybody is thinking, “God, why are things suddenly getting even worse instead of better?” It’s extremely worrying.’
On the same day, in the early hours of Thursday, a man in his 40s was killed in a collision between his van and a truck on the M3 at Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, just 20km from the scene of the other fatal crash.
The man was declared dead at the scene at approximately 2am, while the truck driver was taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin.
A 21-year-old man was also killed, in the early hours of Sunday morning in a single-vehicle road crash on the N4 near Ballinafid, Co. Westmeath.
The man, named locally as Kamile Gumiela, was the driver and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 1am.
Gardaí temporarily closed the road, 10km north of Mullingar, and appealed for witnesses to contact them.
Fianna Fáil senator Joe Flaherty told Extra.ie he was ‘deeply sad’ to learn of the death and that Polish-born Mr Gumiela was a resident of Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford.
He added: ‘It’s a tragic death and emphasises the challenges we face in terms of road safety.’
