Tributes to man fatally struck by car as he walked on motorway
Victim killed following party ‘a great character’
GARDAÍ are appealing for witnesses following the death of a pedestrian killed while walking on a motorway in Co Kildare.
The man, aged in his 40s, died after being struck by a car in the early hours of yesterday morning on the M9. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was last night named locally as Dean Logan, from Kilcullen, Co Kildare.
A source said Mr Logan was walking home from a party when the tragedy occurred between junctions two and three, close to Kilcullen.
The driver of the car was not injured.
Road closures were put in place to facilitate a forensic examination of the crash site.
Mayor of Co Kildare Martin Miley described Mr Logan as a “great character”.
“It’s a woeful tragedy for the area, particularly when a local person is involved.
“I would certainly like to offer my condolences to the family and wider community in the Kilcullen area.
“He was well known and a great character. A young life taken is an awful thing,” he added.
Tributes have also poured in online.
Ger McNally, a friend of Mr Logan, wrote: “Absolutely devastated by the news. I don’t know how you’d even begin to describe Dean Logan to somebody who didn’t know him but not many people around Kilcullen didn’t, there’s very few people around the town who won’t have a story about a night out with Dean.
“He was totally unique and did things the way he wanted. He was an absolute legend and will be badly missed by everybody who knew him.”
Gardaí said they wanted to speak to anyone who may have travelled on the M9 between Kilcullen and Athy between 2.30am and 4.30am.
Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to contact Naas garda station on 045 884300.
Meanwhile, road safety group Parc has warned that it will take a decade at current recruitment levels to bring the Garda Traffic Corps (GTC) back to its pre-recession manpower level.
It welcomed the allocation of 70 new Garda officers for the GTC, but warned that the pace of restoring the corps to its previous operating levels was still “painstakingly and frustratingly slow”.
In early 2009, the traffic corps had almost 1,200 personnel. However, in December 2016 that figure had almost halved to just 671.
Parc said it believed there was a direct link between the dramatic reduction in the number of traffic-dedicated gardaí and the spike, over several years, in the number of people dying on Irish roads.
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan acknowledged the importance of restoring personnel to the corps – and confirmed Garda chiefs are committed to a 10pc year-on-year increase in GTC personnel.
A total of 70 personnel are now being distributed between traffic corps units nationwide, while a further 80 personnel are expected to be trained and ready for allocation by October.
“It is not all about numbers,” Mr Flanagan said. “The commissioner’s Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 places a strong emphasis on the role of the traffic corps being expanded to include crime prevention and detection on the roads through the establishment of divisional road policing units.”