Three die on roads over holiday weekend

THREE people died in Bank Holiday weekend accidents in Galway, Kilkenny and Carlow. The latest victim, father-of-two Peter Whelan from Fernhill, Arklow, Co Wicklow, was the 16th motorcyclist to die on Irish roads this year.

The 46-year-old was out for a drive on a new motorbike yesterday afternoon when he was involved in a collision with a car at Downings near Tullow, Co Carlow. Gardaí said he died at the scene.

The accident is believed to have occurred on a straight stretch of road between Hackettstown and Carlow with both vehicles travelling in the same direction. The driver of the car was uninjured. Anyone who witnessed the accident around 2.30pm is asked to contact Baltinglass garda station at 059 6482610.

Mr Whelan’s death brought to 127 the number of road traffic fatalities in 2004, up an estimated 30% from last year.

Earlier yesterday, a head-on crash claimed the life of a 56-year-old man in Kilkenny. The two-car crash occurred at 10.30am at Three Castles between Freshford and Kilkenny.

The Wexford town mother who died in Saturday night’s crash in Co Galway was named yesterday as Rosemary Kavanagh, aged 49, from Pine Ridge.

She and her son, in his 20s, were returning to the south-east when the accident occurred between 11.30pm and midnight at Ballinamucka, Loughrea on the main Galway-Dublin road. Mrs Kavanagh died en route to University College Hospital, Galway. Her son received medical attention for minor injuries.