Fatal crash on relief road raises design concerns

TWO men in their 40s died following a horror head-on crash on a bypass in north Cork.

The accident happened shortly before 2pm when a maroon-coloured Toyota Landcruiser and a transit van collided on the Mitchelstown relief road.

It was the second fatal crash in Co Cork yesterday, coming less than seven hours after two other men died and two people were injured near Newmarket.

Both men in the Mitchelstown accident were pronounced dead at the scene.

One of them was named locally as William O’Donoghue, aged 44, an agricultural contractor from just outside Mitchelstown.

The other man was said to be from Co Limerick.

Gardaí said they wouldn’t be releasing his name until all his relatives had been informed.

Mr O’Donoghue, a married father-of-three, who lived near the Glocca Maura Inn, was described as an extremely popular man.

Mitchelstown Business Association spokesman Tony Lewis knew him well.

“He was a very popular guy who had a great personality and was very hard-working.” Mr Lewis said.

“He will be greatly missed by his young family and the community as a whole. He has a lot of brothers and sisters as well.”

County councillor Liam O’Doherty, who runs a farm near Mitchelstown, also knew Mr O’Donoghue well.

“He did a lot of silage contracting and worked very hard. I suppose you have to work hard as an agricultural contractor to survive in that business these days. He had even managed to expand the business which was of great credit to him,” Mr O’Doherty said.

He added that Mr O’Donoghue often did ploughing and harrowing for him.

“He was a good employer as well and in the summers when doing the silage he would employ a lot of young fellas,” the councillor said.

He said the four road deaths represented another black day for Cork and the country as a whole.

“Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family and also with the family of the other man who died in this crash,” Mr O’Doherty said.

Mitchelstown Community Council spokesman Bill Power said the town had lost a well-liked man who came from a large and popular family.

“This is an awful shock for the town and I know everybody feels it,” Mr Power said.

The relief road was closed for several hours as emergency services removed wreckage from it.

The crash happened just 30 yards from what local people describe as potential deathtrap.

Mr Power said the community council would be raising the issue with county council engineers and the National Roads Authority.

They are concerned about two climbing lanes which rise to the brow of a hill. These lanes fuse into just one lane at the hill, but some motorists not aware of the road could think they continue over the hill and, therefore, believe it’s safe to overtake.

“I have certainly heard a lot of concerns raised about this and one has to question if there is a design issue. We will be raising the matter with the NRA and the council,” Mr Power said.

The relief road was opened in June 2006 and, although there have been a number of accidents on it, this was the first involving fatalities.