Tragedy in Donegal - Safety must be a priority for drivers

SUNDAY night’s terrible tragedy in Donegal, in which eight people died in a road accident, will mark everyone on the Inishowen peninsula. It will resonate with every parent, in rural Ireland especially, as they wonder how safe their children are, who more often than not must provide their own transport or stay at home, when they go out for a night’s fun.

It will resonate with gardaí, emergency services and hospital workers right across the country who will have some idea of the terrible scene their colleagues in Donegal had to deal with. Sometimes, and this is certainly one of those moments, it is almost impossible to understand how people can do this work day after day, year upon year. But they do and maybe we should take the time to recognise their selflessness and courage.

But most of all, and for the longest time, it will have a huge impact on the families, the fathers and the mothers, the brothers and sisters, the grandparents and the uncles and aunts, cousins and friends of the eight people who died in a remote country back road in the last hours of a summer Sunday evening.