I WANT AN INQUEST INTO MY SISTER’S CRASH DEATH
TRAGIC LOSS Family’s plea for answers after driver acquitted of killing four pals
THE sister of one of four girls killed in a horror car smash has called for an inquest into her death.
Niamh Doyle, 19, died in January 2015 alongside passengers Gemma Nolan and Aisling Middleton, both 19, and 20-yearold Charmaine Carroll when the car they were travelling in collided with a van.
Driver Dayna Kearney was earlier this month aquitted of dangerous driving causing death and of knowingly driving a defective vehicle in relation to the tragic accident near Athy in Co Kildare.
The 22-year-old, from Co Carlow, had been driving unaccompnied on a learner’s permit the night her 01 registration Volkswagen Polo veered out of control into the wrong lane on the N78 and collided head-on with a van.
It emerged during the trial the car had no L-plate, no NCT and two soft tyres that could have caused the collision.
Speaking after the verdict, Louise Doyle said: “Nobody intentionally wanted to get into a car with their four friends and to cause what happened.
“There’s four families here who’ve been severely traumatised but you can do nothing only accept a verdict in these situations and try to move along. It’s not going to bring Niamh back and it’s not going to bring the girls back, so we accept what’s happened.”
However, her family want an inquest into Niamh’s death after receiving a letter from the Coroner’s Court stating it would not be taking place, with “absolutely no reason” given as to why.
Louise said: “I did find a lot of the answers out in the courtroom during the trial but there are some questions I didn’t get answers to.
“I was hoping to find out some of the answers in the inquest as well.
“They do state if the families
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wish to have an inquest they can contact the Coroner’s Court. It’s part of the whole closure as well.
“You’re closing that chapter and you want it to end and you want your answers and you want to be able to move on so we as a family would want an inquest.”
Louise also revealed she hasn’t been able to visit the crash site.
She said: “I haven’t been to the grave in nearly two years. I haven’t been to the crash site. I don’t visit either.”
The Carlow woman recalled getting a “frantic” phone call from her father the night Niamh passed away.
She said: “I was in disbelief because I had known she had gone ice skating the night before. “I couldn’t accept it was her. I thought maybe they had made a mistake.”
And Louise told how she made the heartbreaking decision to do her little sister’s hair and make-up for the funeral. Speaking to Miriam O’callaghan on RTE Radio One yesterday, she said: “Niamh loved her fashion, she loved her hair and her make-up and she was always beautiful.
“So I could hear her telling me please have me looking beautiful and make sure my hair and my make-up is done perfectly and don’t let anyone else do it.
“As her big sister, I wanted her to look beautiful because I knew it was going to be such a big funeral and one of the last things I was ever going to do for her so I wanted to make sure it was right.”
Louise, whose daughter Rachel was just 12 at the time of Niamh’s death and whose son Mikey was born less than a year later said the tragedy turned her life “upside down”.
She also called on drivers to be vigilant about ensuring their vehicles are roadworthy.
Louise added: “It is important for people when they’re getting into a car to realise their responsibilities as a driver.
“You do need to look after your car, you do need to check your tyres, check your oil levels, check everything that you’re responsible for.”
Four families have been traumatised and are trying to move along LOUISE DOYLE