A total of five people died on Irish roads over the weekend, including a 14-year-old involved in an e-scooter crash.
On Tullaroan Road at Bonnettstown in Co. Kilkenny on Saturday night, the boy, named as Joe Carthy, was travelling on the e-scooter when he ended up in an accident with a car. He was transferred to the local hospital, St. Luke’s, where he ultimately died of his wounds.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, local Fianna Fáil Councillor Joe Malone said that the boy was one of seven, and that the family was “distraught”.
“So sad, and they’re all distraught out there,” he said.
“Joe comes from the Traveller community and they’re all out there last night and coming together and trying to take it in. It’s so sad.”
Meanwhile, at 10pm on Sunday night, a man in his 20s died in a single-vehicle crash in Co. Meath.
Earlier on Sunday, two men died in a three-vehicle collision, also in Co. Meath, in the Oldcastle area. Two motorcycles collided – one of which had two passengers – resulting in a man in his 30s, his passenger, and a man in his 40s being pronounced dead at the scene. The bodies were taken to Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan.
Meanwhile, a third male motorcyclist was taken to Tallaght University Hospital with severe injuries, and a fourth was brought to Cavan General Hospital with less serious injuries.
Before that, at 1:30 a.m. early on Saturday morning, 40-year-old Finbarr Colman died in a road crash near Kinsale in Co. Cork. He was one of several passengers in a car which appears to have hit a ditch.
These deaths brings the number of people who have died on Irish roads this year so far to a new total of 113.
Notably, last year in 2023 was the worst year for road deaths in almost a decade, at 188 deaths.
When taking up the role of Taoiseach in April, Simon Harris said that road safety will be “a priority issue” for him in the role.
In early March, the European Commission published a detailed analysis on a country-by-country basis comparing road deaths per million inhabitants in 2023 with the average from the three years prior to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Despite Ireland’s road deaths per million inhabitants being below the EU average, the country had the highest percentage increase, with a rise of 29%. Ireland and Norway, which saw a 14% increase, were the only countries with double-digit percentage increases.
In general, member states saw a 12% reduction in road deaths rather than an increase.