Tributes to teen crash victim: A beautiful soul taken too soon
Outpouring of sadness after 15-year-old Leah dies in horror collision
FAMILY and friends of a 15-year-old girl killed in a horror road collision have described her as a ‘beautiful young soul’.
Leah O’Meara was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services responded to a two-vehicle collision at approximately 6.45pm on Thursday.
The teenager, from Thurles, Co. Tipperary, was a passenger in one of the two vehicles involved in the crash on the R503 at Rearcross, near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
There were three other occupants in the car at the time – a man and woman, both in their 20s, and another girl in her teens.
They were taken to University Hospital Limerick following the accident and treated for non-lifethreatening injuries.
The driver of the second car was also transferred to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Leah was transferred to the mortuary at Limerick University Hospital where a post mortem was carried out.
Her death brings the total number of fatalities on Irish roads so far this year to 25. Tipperary
‘You were my whole world and more’
was the worst-affected county in the country last year, with 16 deaths on the roads, including two crashes last August that resulted in seven people losing their lives.
This most recent tragic incident has left her community in Thurles deeply shaken, with tributes pouring in online.
In a social media post, her heartbroken sister wrote: ‘My beautiful, beautiful sister, I love you so much unconditionally baby girl.
‘I still just can’t believe this is after happening to me. What am I meant to do now? How can I move forward without you? You were my whole world and more.’
A friend of the deceased posted: ‘So sad to say goodbye to this beautiful young soul. Took too soon at a young age. RIP Leah I love you. Forever 15.’
One grief-stricken person wrote: ‘My family members were also in the vehicle and have been airlifted to hospital where they are stable.
‘I had the privilege of spending two weeks over Christmas with Leah who was an intelligent, funny and very pretty young lady.
‘At just 15 years old she will be terribly missed. My entire family offer their condolences to Leah’s family at this terrible time and our thoughts are with you and we offer this tribute to celebrate Leah’s life.’
In a statement, Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed, where Leah was a student, said it was ‘shocked and saddened’ by her sudden death.
It added: ‘Leah was a third-year student, had just completed her mocks [exams], had a winning smile, she was involved in all aspects of school life and was so friendly and popular among her peers. She will be will be greatly missed by all who know her.
‘Our priority now is the wellbeing and welfare of our students, parents and staff.
‘The Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed Critical Incident Team has met to co-ordinate a response and to enact the Critical Incident Plan.’
Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill expressed his condolences to the girl’s family. Speaking on RTÉ’s Today With Claire Byrne, he said: ‘It’s another family in tragedy.
‘In Tipperary last year we had an awful lot of fatal accidents this early in the new year; this is another fatal accident and another young life lost.
‘My deepest sympathy to the family involved, and I hope all the four who were involved make a full recovery from their injuries’.
Gardaí are currently appealing for witnesses to come forward, including anyone with camera footage from the area at the time of the collision.
Meanwhile, proposals to lower speed limits to help reduce road fatalities have been described by Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ from the Government.
Last year, 184 people died in road traffic collisions, compared with 155 in 2022.
Mr Healy-Rae told Newstalk Breakfast: ‘This knee-jerk reaction by the Government of drastically reducing the speed limits is not the answer. There are other issues that they should be looking at, such as making our roads safer by doing more removal of dangerous junctions, cutting the hedges on the roads, taking the water off the roads, making our roads a safer place to be – and it is not just through speed reduction that we will do that.’
On Thursday, Transport Infrastructure Ireland confirmed new time-over-distance speed cameras will also be rolled out.
The devices use data to calculate whether a driver was speeding in between two cameras, unlike traditional speed cameras that can only tell if a driver is going over the limit the moment it passes it. These cameras are already operating in Dublin’s Port Tunnel and on the M7 in Birdhill, Co. Tipperary.
‘Another young life lost’