Campaigners criticise Government's 'damaging U-turn' on road safety reform

In Limerick, a man in his 20s died and four people, including three teenagers, were injured in a two-car collision on the N21 at Ballymurragh West at around 12.50am yesterday. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Road safety campaigners have slammed the Government for a “damaging U-turn” on what they say is critical reform of the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

It comes as three people were killed on the roads in 12 hours. Two men and one woman died in road crashes in Limerick, Monaghan, and Tipperary.

In Limerick, a man in his 20s died and four people, including three teenagers, were injured in a two-car collision on the N21 at Ballymurragh West at around 12.50am yesterday.

The three teenagers — two females and one male — suffered serious injuries and were rushed to hospital. Another man, aged in his 20s, was also hospitalised.

The deceased has been named as Simon ‘Sammy’ McInerney, aged 21.

“It’s like a bad nightmare I’m not waking up from,” his grieving sister wrote on social media.

Please will someone tell me why is life so cruel?

In Monaghan, a woman in her 30s died after the car she was driving was in a collision with a HGV at about 8am yesterday. A man aged in his 50s was arrested in connection with the crash.

A man in his 20s died in a single-car crash in Tipperary on Wednesday night.

These three fatalities bring to 183 the number of people who have died on Irish roads in 2025.

That is 19 more deaths than the total recorded by December 18 last year, when there were 164 fatalities

“That is another 183 families who will be visiting graves on Christmas Day,” Susan Gray, founder of Parc (Parents and Relatives of Crash Victims), told the Irish Examiner.

An independent external review of the RSA by Indecon consultants recommended its reform by splitting it into two agencies, one responsible for road safety and another for functions such as the NCT and driver testing.

Ms Gray and other road safety advocates hoped this would be acted on, but the Government did “a complete U-turn” on that this week, announcing it would not be disbanding the RSA, she said.

The Irish Road Haulage Association also criticised the Government for rowing back on recommended RSA reform. President Ger Hyland said the decision would result in more road deaths, prolong dysfunction in the driving test system, and leave in place a publicly funded body widely criticised as unfit for purpose.

The roads are our workplace and we are frightened at the escalating dangers our drivers are facing every day.

“Minister [of state at the Department of Transport] Seán Canney has abandoned meaningful reform of the RSA — despite clear recommendations from independent reviews — that means more people will die on our roads, some of them hauliers.

That means our driver training and testing system will continue to be a shambles.

However, Mr Canney defended his decision not to disband the RSA.

“It’s better to solve the problems that are within the organisation than to be just splitting it up,” he told RTÉ.

The decision came about because of improvements in the RSA such as reduction in national waiting times for driving tests from 27 weeks to 10 weeks, he said.

Road safety campaigns need to be more visible and the Department of Transport will be working with the RSA to bring in necessary changes, said Mr Canney.