VIDEO: UCC to fly flag at half mast in respect to student and mother killed in Fermoy accident
“University College Cork was deeply saddened to learn of the death of its student Louise Clancy and her mother Geraldine, who died in the tragic car accident in Kilworth, near Fermoy in Cork, yesterday,” said a UCC statement released today.
“UCC wishes to extend its sincere sympathy to Louise’s family and friends. The University flag will fly at half-mast in the Main Quadrangle today as a mark of respect. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse."
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The young woman who was killed in a car crash along with her mother had just returned home from studying abroad to celebrate Christmas with her family.
Louise Clancy, 22, and her mother Geraldine, 58, died close to their home in Kilworth, Co Cork, following a two car-collision on the R667 Fermoy to Ballyduff Road shortly before 11.40am yesterday.
The women were heading towards nearby Fermoy to do some Christmas shopping when the accident occurred.
It is understood that the car in which the two women were travelling left the road upon impact and went into a tributary of the Blackwater River.
The sole female occupant of the other car involved in the collision was not seriously injured.
The bodies of the women were taken to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem.
The road was closed off until 5pm yesterday to facilitate an examination of the area by Garda forensic collision investigators.
A student of University College Cork, Louise Clancy was living in Brighton where she was spending a year studying English literature and sociology at the University of Sussex. She had returned to Cork in recent days for the Christmas holidays.
An aspiring journalist, she had published her work to a website along with updates on her progress during her year studying abroad. In a piece reflecting on the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Ms Clancy wrote of how she believed that eyewitness accounts and the stories of those who died were important to humanise the victims.
In the same piece she spoke of the importance of telling “your loved ones how much you love them”.
“To my loved ones: I love you all so much and I am so grateful that you have made my life happy and worth living,” she wrote.
Kilworth parish priest Fr Donal Leahy said the Clancys are a well- respected local family and that the news has “devastated” the North Cork community.
“Everyone is rallying around, but what can we say? We can’t believe it, and for it to happen so close to Christmas. We are all very upset,” Fr Leahy said.
“To lose two people from one family who were out to do a bit of Christmas shopping is hard to come to grips with. The things we think are important at Christmas aren’t all that important when we see what this family are now going through,” he said.
The latest deaths on Irish roads came on the same day Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe, the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána published a provisional review of road fatalities for 2015.
The review showed that as of yesterday morning, there had been 154 deaths following 148 fatal collisions on Irish roads. The figures represent 37 fewer deaths and 29 fewer fatal crashes compared to the same day in 2014.
Mr Donohoe said that 2015 could be the safest year on our roads since road death records began in 1959. He said: “Such an achievement would be a fitting tribute and mark of respect to the many thousands of people who have died or been injured on the road.
“While every death is one too many, the progress we are making in reducing the number of fatalities on our roads is encouraging
“It is estimated, however, that a further 8 people may die over the Christmas period, further highlighting the fact that the opportunity is there for each and every one of us to prevent this from happening by making good choices.
Nineteen of the 69 drivers (28%) and eight of the 25 passengers (32%) killed were not wearing a seatbelt.
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