FF hit out at drink drivers after TD's arrest

Fianna Fáil today condemned drink drivers who break the law after one of its TDs was arrested over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Christy O’Sullivan was detained on suspicion of drink driving on Monday night when he failed a breath test close to his Clonakilty home.

A Fianna Fáil spokesman said it was totally unacceptable to get behind the wheel under the influence.

“The laws are there and everybody has to obey them,” he said.

“We are now awaiting for due process in this case.”

Mr O’Sullivan, Cork South West representative, said he only had a “few pints” at the races and did not believe he was over the limit. He will have to wait up to six weeks for the results of blood tests to find out if he will be charged or cleared.

The 59-year-old’s arrest was in the midst of one of the worst weekends of carnage on Irish roads this year.

Eleven people died in collisions in recent days, with eight lives lost over the Bank Holiday and three more people killed yesterday.

Road safety chiefs criticised any motorist who gets behind the wheel of a car after drinking alcohol.

“Drinking and driving is a killer behaviour,” said Road Safety Authority spokesman Brian Farrell.

“At half the legal limit you are twice as likely to be involved in a crash than someone who hasn’t had alcohol. That is a scientific fact, not an opinion.

“Thankfully the majority of people in this country believe it is now socially unacceptable to drink and drive.

“But drink driving is a real problem.”

Mr O’Sullivan said he was deeply sorry and embarrassed by his actions.

“I had a few pints but I believed I could take them without doing any harm,” the TD said.

“Unfortunately, this is not the case any more.

“Drinking and driving is something I take very seriously and I believed I was not over the limit.

“I will now have to await the result of the blood sample I gave and hope that it will not prove positive.

“If it does then I will have to face the consequences of my actions.”

Last summer, Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after failing two breathalyser tests for gardaí.

The former IRA gun-runner was later cleared when a urine sample proved he was under the limit.

The Kerry North representative, who always maintained his innocence, had consumed three alcoholic drinks before he was stopped at a random breath-test checkpoint in the early hours of April 22 near his home in the village of Ardfert.

In April 2005, former junior transport minister Jim McDaid was found to be more than three times over the limit after his arrest for driving in the wrong direction on a dual carriageway.

He was later fined €750 and banned from driving for two and a half years.

And in November 2003, former FF representative GV Wright was fined €900 and was disqualified from driving for two years for drink driving.

Mr Farrell said the 11 road deaths in recent days had been an appalling weekend and bad start to the week.

The road death toll so far this year is now 123, compared to 138 at the same time last year.

The latest victims included a young motorcyclist in Co Cork, a driver in his 70s in Mayo, and an elderly woman in Sligo.

Mr Farrell appealed for all road users to take care and exercise greater caution.

“We need to remember that using the roads in the summer time presents a particular challenge,” he continued.

“The schools are out, there are more people holidaying, there are more social events and there are more vulnerable road users, like cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.

“The agriculture and farming community is also on our roads.

“We are all sharing the roads and they are busier and we should always expect the unexpected.”