Bereaved mother slams motion
Christina Donnelly’s 24-year-old son Brendan and his friend Lee Salkeld, 26, were killed instantly near Cork Airport in 2009 when a car driving on the wrong side of the road smashed head-on into their vehicle.
It later emerged that the other driver had consumed seven pints, six bottles and five cans of beer, two vodkas, three shots, and a line of cocaine before attempting to drive home.
The culprit was jailed for five years in 2010 and disqualified from driving for 15 years.
Ms Donnelly, from Co Waterford, reacted angrily to Kerry councillor Danny Healy-Rae’s call for permits allowing people in rural areas to drive home after drinking in local pubs.
“I’m absolutely furious with this man,” said Ms Donnelly. “To hear that he is sending out such a message, where the hell is he coming from?”
The devastated mother said there has to be zero tolerance to drink driving, adding that it is very wrong to suggest it is acceptable to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.
“What signal is Danny Healy-Rae sending out to those who have lost loved ones or those who have ended up in wheelchairs because of drink driving?” she asked.
Ms Donnelly said while she fully understands the problems associated with rural isolation, more publicans should arrange a taxi service or an allocated driver to take people home.
Kilgarvan publican Mr Healy-Rae insisted providing public transport to and from the pub is not an ideal situation.
“I take people home many nights of the week,” he said. “But these people like their bit of independence and want to come and go when it suits them.”
Mr Healy Rae’s contentious motion was passed at a council meeting, on a 5-3 vote, with the other 19 councillors either absent or abstaining.
The five councillors who voted in favour of the motion all have close links with the pub trade. They are Mr Healy-Rae and his son Johnny, Castleisland publican Bobby O’Connell, Milltown publican Michael O’Shea, and Michael Cahill, who holds a licence for a pub on Rossbeigh beach.
