Section of road where mother and daughter died 'not fit for modern traffic', says coroner

Aisling Moore and Abbigael Moore-Tournié who died in a collision involving a car and lorry in Mayo. Picture: Gardaí

A section of the N26 in Co Mayo where a mother and her daughter were killed last month was described by a coroner as "not fit for modern traffic".

Patrick O’Connor, coroner for the District of Mayo, made his comments at the opening of an inquest into the deaths of Aisling Moore (46) and her eight-year-old daughter, Abbigael Tournie Moore.

Aisling and Abbigael died on July 2 when their car collided with a lorry at Callow between Foxford and Swinford. Eamon Moore, father of Aisling and grandfather of Abbigael, attended the brief hearing as did Aisling’s sister, Anita.

Mr O’Connor told the family members he knew they shared his concerns about the safety of the stretch of road where their loved ones died. “The local authority and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will have to do something about the stretch of road," he continued.

A pathologist gave evidence that the medical cause of death in Aisling’s case was extensive fatal injuries including multiple fractures and head injuries. The medical cause of Abbigael’s death was extensive head injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, pathologist Dr Tamas Nemeth said.

Aisling Moore’s occupation was described in court as a beautician. Her marital status was given as divorced. Mr O’Connor informed the family it would take some time before a full inquiry/investigation is carried out.

He said he was opening the inquest so that a State death certificate could be issued. “The Garda investigation will be thorough and will take quite an amount of time,” the coroner stated.

Gardaí, first responders and civilians who attended at the accident scene were thanked by the coroner and Sergeant Ronan Drury, courts presenter for An Garda Siochana. He then adjourned the substantive inquest hearing pending the completion of the garda investigation.

At the funeral in July, Abbigael and Aisling were described as "beautiful and kindred souls".

Hundreds of people including Abbigael's classmates from St Aidan's National School in Kiltimagh, Swinford Athletic Club members, Kiltimagh GAA team mates and friends from EMC Dance Club, as well as their parents, attended the church to pay their respects.