Three die in Christmas road accidents

A 32-year-old man killed in a car crash in Co Leitrim early yesterday morning became the 379th person to die on Irish roads this year.

Paul Goodwin died after he lost control of his Fiat Bravo and crashed into a ditch at Dooard, Rossinver at 4.30am. Gardaí from Manorhamilton who investigated the accident said that Mr Goodwin, from Elm Gardens, Ballytivnan, Sligo, was the only occupant of the car.

Meanwhile, gardaí are trying to identify a Lithuanian man in his early 20s who died on Christmas Day when the car in which he was travelling struck an electricity pole in Dublin.

The man was one of three people in the car which careered out of control and smashed into the electricity pole at Castleknock Road, Blanchardstown, at 3.10am.

The dead man was a front seat passenger in the car. The collision brought down live wires and the road was sealed off for a number of hours as ESB crews repaired the damage.

Gardaí have named a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a car at 3.45am on Christmas Eve.

Michael Murphy, aged 37, from Darkley, Keady, Co Armagh, was killed while walking along the main Dublin-Derry road.

The accident happened on a stretch of road between Carrickmacross and Castleblaney.

A spokesman for the Garda Press Office said that it was hoped that the death toll for this year would be well down on 2001 when 411 people were killed on Irish roads.

However, the National Safety Council chief executive, Pat Costello, has urged drivers not to be complacent and urged them to take greater care on the roads over the Christmas period.