More lives lost on stretch of road locals call ‘lethal’

THE silence at the site where three women were tragically killed in a road accident seemed to fill the surrounding countryside.

Closure of the N2 road, a route usually teeming with traffic, left the lonely spot on the Louth-Monaghan border unusually quiet.

This was where the journey home from holidays for a group of family and friends turned into a nightmare.

The trip from Dublin Airport to Donegal for Margaret McGonagle (69), her daughter Mairead Mundy (37), and her friend Rachel Battles (39) ended here.

Garda forensic collision experts worked throughout the morning at the bend in the road where three cars collided. The site of the crash, which happened shortly before 1am yesterday, was a few kilometres north of Ardee.

Garda and emergency service teams moved silently amid the mangled wreckage of vehicles as they undertook their work.

Down the road in Ardee, the mood was sombre.

People spoke quietly of their sadness at the terrible death toll. “There’s been a lot of tragedies on that road,” local woman Davina Gray said.

“It’s a very busy traffic artery to the north west. It’s just awful.”

Local councillor Dolores Minogue said she had been campaigning to try to get more filter lanes incorporated into the N2 to make it safer. She described the road as a “ruthless”.

Sinéad Gunne (33), and her friend Maurag Harvey (33), said the road was well known for its accident record.

“The road from Castleblaney to Ardee is lethal,” Ms Gunne said.

Ms Harvey said the road planners “need to put their thinking caps on” to find ways to make the road safer.