Four people killed in another weekend of road accident carnage

FOUR people died in separate car accidents within the space of 12 hours in another weekend of road carnage.

The number of motorists killed so far in 2003 has risen to 180 following the latest fatalities in Wexford, Galway and Dublin.

Gardaí in Enniscorthy are investigating the circumstances in which two local men died in unrelated car accidents near the Co Wexford town over the weekend.

David Donnelly, 22, from Moran Park, Enniscorthy, was killed when the car he was driving was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle at Grange Cross, Killane, Rathnure, Co Wexford, at about 11.20pm on Saturday.

And 26-year-old motorcyclist, Trevor Mullin, from Hollywood Park, Naas, Co Kildare, died when his vehicle left the road near Enniscorthy yesterday morning.

No other vehicle was involved in the incident, which occurred on the main Gorey-Wexford road shortly before 9am.

In Galway, a driver died as a result of a single-vehicle accident at Abbeyknockmoy near Tuam, Co Galway, at about the same time.

The victim was later named as Jacqueline Higgins, 60, from Ballinasloe, Co Galway.

A 53-year-old pedestrian was killed in Dublin when struck by a car in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The woman was walking along a footpath at Turnapin Lane, Santry, at about 2am when she was hit by a passing vehicle.

The latest tragedies occurred amid reports that the Government is set to increase the maximum speed limit to 120km per hour just under 75mph.

Although the introduction of penalty points last year resulted in an initial decrease in road deaths, the number of fatalities in May and June this year have exceeded the figure for the same months in 2002.

However, the six-month figures show that 175 people were killed on roads between January and June this year, compared to 186 over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the two young girls killed in a house fire in Sligo town on Saturday were named yesterday as Lisa-Marie Keane, 11, and her sister, Laura , 9, from the Glendallon Estate in Ballytivnan, Sligo.

Their brother, Patrick ,10, remains in a critical condition at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin as a result of the blaze, while a 16-year-old girl is also fighting for her life as a result of burns suffered in the schoolyard of the De La Salle primary school in Dundalk on Saturday night.

A 23-year-old farmer, Brian Hunt, of Lisacul, Castlerea, Co Roscommon, was killed while bailing hay on a farm just outside Ballaghadereen in Co Roscommon on Saturday evening.