Appeal for witnesses to fatal car accidents

AS GARDAÍ appealed for witnesses to two car crashes, one of which left a nine-month-old baby girl with serious injuries, three of the seven people killed in a horrific weekend of smashes were named yesterday.

The baby was hurt in a two-car collision at Curraghmore in Co Wexford on Sunday. Gardaí are investigating the circumstances of the crash and appealed for anyone who was travelling on the Duncannon side of Wellington Bridge between 1.30pm and 2pm to contact them at Ballycullane Garda Station on 051-562740.

In Finglas, gardaí are looking for witnesses to a crash at Jamestown Road on Saturday that left a 30-year-old man in serious condition in hospital.

The injured man was the driver of a white Volkswagen Caddy van. No other vehicles were involved. Anyone who was on the road between 9am and 10am or who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Finglas gardaí on 01-6667500.

Meanwhile, gardaí have identified Lukasch Klincewicz, 26, and Maximillian Klincewicz, 17, both originally from Poland but with an address at Cushla Grove, Athlone, as the two men who died when the car in which they were passengers collided with a minibus. It was carrying 16 people outside Athlone in the early hours of Sunday.

The driver of the car, also from eastern Europe, was taken to hospital along with the occupants of the minibus.

Seven people, including at least four foreigners, were killed in three accidents over the weekend.

A head-on collision on the Limerick to Dublin road on Saturday killed four people, including two Dell Limerick employees, and seriously injured another.

Yesterday, hundreds of Dell workers signed a book of condolence at the Limerick plant for Sean O’Donoghue, 37, from Patrickswell, and William Quane, 34, from Clonlara, who had been on their way to Croke Park to watch the Ireland-Italy rugby match. They died when their car collided with a car driven by Polish man David Dziemianowicz, 21. He and his Italian girlfriend, Marika Rossi, 24, were killed.

Niall Furlong, who was in Sean O’Donoghue’s car, was seriously injured and is in a stable condition in the Midlands Hospital in Tullamore.

Gardaí have also named the man killed when his car crashed into trees and burst into flames at Manch between Ballineen and Dunmanway in west Cork. He was Patrick O’Farrell, 29, of Bantry Road, Dunmanway.

Despite the high number of foreigners killed in accidents over the weekend, and those who have been killed in accidents in recent years, the Road Safety Authority said research it had done showed the percentage of non-Irish fatalities on the country’s roads reflected the percentage they make up of the population.

Ahern comment:

SPEED and drink driving were last night blamed by Bertie Ahern for a weekend of road carnage.

The Taoiseach urged drivers to slow down and obey alcohol limits if the death toll of the last few days is not to be repeated.

“It was a very bad weekend, they were horrendous accidents and terrible fatalities. I suppose to extend our sympathy to all of the families involved is the first thing to do.

“It is very disappointing when so much effort is being made by everybody, and I think most motorists... abide by the law and abide by the new standards and I think particularly the issues around drink driving and speed to avoid carnage.

“And then in broad daylight we seem to have some very bad accidents... from all accounts... centred on speed.

“We have to continue to redouble our efforts to try to get people to be responsible on our roads. But it is disappointing that people continue to engage and drive at such horrendous speeds.

“The inevitability of accidents from that behaviour is I’m afraid something that we all know.

“All that it ends up as is total grief for everybody,” he said.