Five dead and five are hurt on roads in just 48 hours

FIVE people have died and another five were injured during a 48-hour period on our roads.

The latest death was an 80-year-old man who was killed in a crash between two cars in Co. Cork. His ten-year-old passenger was taken to hospital. The occupant of the other car suffered minor injuries in the accident on the N71 at Bawnshanaclogh, Ballydehob.

On Wednesday an elderly couple lost their lives when the car they were travelling in collided with a lorry in Limerick.

Christopher Scullane and Mary Ellen from Warwickshire in the English midlands died in the collision near Dromkeen on the Limerick to Tipperary road. The lorry driver was also injured in the accident and was taken to hospital.

It is understood the couple were in Ireland to visit a sick relative.

On Thursday morning a driver in her 70s was killed when her vehicle struck a gate post in Mayfield in Cork city. She was named as Mary Hanley. Her husband Jack suffered injuries.

And that morning in Mayo a woman named locally as Martha King aged in her 60s died when the car she was in collided with another vehicle outside Castlebar. The driver of the other car suffered minor injuries.

The latest incidents bring the number of people who have died on our roads to 72, up from 69 at this time last year. Dublin, Cork and Mayo were the areas worst affected by collisions in 2017 with Monday and Sunday the most dangerous days of the week on the roads, the Road Safety Authority has said.