EASTER HORROR
18yr-old man dead and two critical after car hits pillar
A TEENAGER was killed and two other young men are fighting for their lives after an Easter Sunday crash.
They were in a vehicle that collided with a stone pillar near Ennis in Co Clare.
An 18-year-old named locally as Oisin Cahill died at the scene at Woodstock.
The driver and a backseat passenger, aged 19 and 21, were taken to hospital.
Supt John Galvin said last night: “They are in a critical condition.”
GARDAI appealed for witnesses yesterday to a crash that killed an 18-year-old and left two other men fighting for their lives.
The young man who died has been named locally as Oisin Cahill.
It is understood the three pals had attended the Clare U21 hurling final in Ennis on Saturday.
The single-vehicle smash happened at around 4.20am on Easter Sunday on the Shanaway Road at Woodstock on the outskirts of Ennis.
The Toyota Avensis was travelling from the Ennis direction when the driver is thought to have crossed the road before crashing into a stone pillar at the entrance to Woodstock View housing estate. Tyre tracks could be seen crossing the roadway where the accident happened.
The 18-year-old, understood to have been the front seat passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver and backseat passenger, aged 19 and 21, were taken to University Hospital Limerick.
It’s also thought two of the young men were cousins.
Gardai arrived at the scene after being alerted to the collision by locals who heard the impact.
A doctor from Shannondoc, the out-of-hours GP service, also responded to the incident followed soon afterwards by two units of the fire brigade, three ambulances and a rapid response advanced paramedic unit. Fire crews had to cut one of the victims from the wreckage of the car which was described by one emergency services worker as “mangled and almost unrecognisable”.
Fire service first responders assisted paramedics with CPR.
The road was closed to facilitate an examination by the
Garda forensic collision investigators while the fire service placed protective screens around the car to shield it from public view.
The collision occurred opposite to the entrance to Woodstock Hotel and Woodstock Golf Club which is popular with walkers and cyclists.
Supt John Galvin said: “The collision happened at around 4.20am and we would like to hear from anyone who might have seen the car in the area of Woodstock or Shanaway Road or anywhere else before the collision.
“One young man died in this collision and two others were taken to University Hospital Limerick where they are in a critical condition.
“If anyone was going to or coming home from work or might have been returning from a night out and they were in the area at the time, we would ask them to contact us.
“Any persons or motorists who witnessed the collision can contact Ennis Garda station on 065 6848100, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.”
In 2005, just a kilometre from the scene on the same road, a 17-year-old girl was killed after the car she was travelling in overturned and crashed.
The single-vehicle collision happened as a group of friends were making their way from a house party to a nightclub in Ennis.
We ask anyone who was in the area at the time to contact us SUPT JOHN GALVIN CO CLARE YESTERDAY
IRISH MIRROR COMMENT:
ANOTHER family has suffered the devastating news of the loss of a loved one on a Bank Holiday that should be spent in the company of our nearest and dearest.
Irish roads are still claiming lives and bringing the horror of sudden grief to homes across the country.
A parent’s worst nightmare was realised yesterday in Ennis – gardai travelling to a house to notify them of the young man’s death.
That family’s Easter Sunday spent at a morgue waiting to identify their loved one’s remains.
All the Bank Holiday campaigns by the Road Safety Authority and gardai, all the money spent on advertising campaigns and yet people are still dying.
Thirty-nine people have been killed on our roads so far this year – 59 people have died over the Easter Bank Holiday since 2012.
It seems the campaigns and the enforcement blitzes appear to grab the low hanging fruit.
There is only so much the State can do without the commitment of motorists to change their behaviour.
One third of drivers and motorcyclists killed in smashes had alcohol in their system – while just over a quarter of pedestrians killed on roads were under the influence of an intoxicant.
Never drink and drive and never take chances. The message is simple – arrive alive.