Safety chief's investment call after six die on roads

A leading road safety expert today called for better investment in Ireland’s roads after five teenagers and a baby girl were killed in two days.

Eddie Shaw, chairman of the National Safety Council, said the number of deaths could be dramatically reduced if the government spent more on improving road conditions.

Last night three teenagers died when their car collided with another near the village of Hospital in Co Limerick.

They were named by gardaí as 16-year-old Naomi Mulcahy, Seamus Keogh, 18, and James Ryan, also 18, all from the surrounding area.

A middle-aged man travelling in the other car was in a stable condition in hospital and his wife was being treated for shock.

Gardaí were investigating the cause of the crash, which happened shortly after 7pm amid bad driving conditions.

Just a day earlier, a teenage couple and their baby girl died in a road accident in Co Wexford.

Conor Martin, 18, Emma Conroy, 17, and four-month-old Chloe Conroy were killed when their car collided with a lorry on the N11 just outside Enniscorthy.

Mr Shaw called on the Government to invest in Ireland’s roads to prevent more loss of life.

He told Irish radio: “This is simply coming down now to a matter of investment.

“Undoubtedly it is going to be a crunch issue this year for the department of finance at a time of scarce budgetary resources.

“The question is will the department of finance recognise the benefit in both financial terms and in the absence of pain and suffering to our community when we can show that we can dramatically reduce the incidence of deaths and injuries on our roads by proper investment?”

He said that July was always a bad month in terms of the number of road deaths.

But he added that, despite this week’s fatalities, the number killed on Irish roads so far this year was still lower than last year’s figure.