Man and woman die in collision on straight road

TWO people died in a head-on collision on a dry, straight stretch of wide road yesterday.

The accident happened just 18m from the tragic scene of the death of 15-year-old Marie Rooney at Moneygold, Co Sligo, just two years ago when she was struck by a car while waiting for her school bus.

A woman died at the scene when the Donegal-registered silver Nissan Almera she was driving southwards collided with a Dublin-registered black Mitsubishi Colt with L-plates heading north.

Its driver, 26-year-old Mark McCormack from Terenure, Dublin, died a short while later in Sligo General Hospital. He worked in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

The dead woman, who was on her way to a graduation ceremony in Maynooth, was named locally in Donegal as 63-year-old Myra Gamble from Meenavoy, Ballybofey.

She moved to the area from Scotland several years ago. Her husband died about 18 months ago.

A girl aged about eight who was in the back of the Nissan and a woman who was a front-seat passenger were taken to hospital and treated for injuries.

Both drivers had to be cut free from the mangled vehicles by firemen.

The passengers were helped out of the Nissan by passing motorists and a nearby resident. One eyewitness said: “The little girl was crying for her mammy, but it wasn’t clear whether her mother was the driver or the passenger.”

It’s understood the driver was not the child’s mother.

The accident happened just hours before the Sligo town launch of a special road safety awareness campaign to coincide with the Irish section of the world rally championship later this month in the north-west.

The collision was outside a small shop and rural post office run by Annie Gilroy. Her son, Eric, an engineer, was among the first on the scene after the 8.20am crash. Ms Gilroy said: “I was in bed when I heard a thud and I thought it might have been noise from a digger. I can’t describe the shock when I looked out and saw what really happened.”

Eric Gilroy was collecting milk cartons at the doorstep when he heard “a smack”.

A local doctor and an ambulance were at the scene within minutes.

Mr Gilroy said: “It was a bad smash. The cars were a write-off.”

Mr Gilroy said the accident happened at almost the same time as the collision which claimed local girl Marie Rooney’s life in December 2005, when she was struck by a car as she waited at a bus stop.