Five die in road accidents, two men drowned

Eoin English

A man was killed in Co Louth yesterday morning following a collision between a car and a van outside Ardee on the Carrickmacross Road. The victim was a passenger in the van. The drivers of both the van and car were injured.

The name of the deceased has not been released.

Gardaí are also investigating a road accident in Cavan on Saturday evening which resulted in the death of a 32-year-old motorcyclist.

Also in Cavan, the body of Ciaran Agnew, 36, from Highfield Road in Cavan, was recovered from Trinity Lake near Crossdoney yesterday morning.

Mr Agnew, who was camping in the area with his family, got into difficulties when he went into the lake to retrieve a football. His body was taken to Cavan General Hospital for a post mortem.

In another drowning accident, a member of Portmarnock Diving Club died and another was injured after a dive on the wreck of the Santa Maria off the Antrim coast yesterday.

The two went into a rapid ascent to the surface. A married man in his 30s was pronounced dead at Ballycastle Harbour.

The other man was transferred by helicopter to the decompression chamber at Craigavon Area hospital where his condition last night was described as stable.

In Donegal, a 24-year-old man was killed on Saturday morning after he was struck by a car while walking with a friend at Greenbanks, Muff, shortly after 5am. His name has not been released.

Meanwhile, flowers marked the spot in Bantry, Co Cork, last night where Kitty Harrington, 81, of Slip Park, Bantry, was knocked down on Saturday morning, just yards from her home.

She had been at Mass and the hairdressers earlier that morning and was returning home when she was killed.

Her funeral takes place in Kealkil today at 2pm.

Gardaí in Tipperary also released the name yesterday of the 71-year-old woman who was killed when she was struck by a lorry in Cahir last Friday.

She was Marlene Bailes from Kilcommon, Cahir.