Woman killed by car in front of niece (8)
A 53-YEAR-old woman died after being struck by a car in front of her eight-year-old niece.
Mary Twomey died after a car crashed into her in Tipperary on Monday night.
The tragic incident happened on the old N8 Mitchelstown to Cahir Road at Kilcoran, Co Cork, at approximately 8.20pm.
Ms Twomey, a mother to an adult son, was walking along the hard shoulder accompanied by her niece on a bicycle when she was struck by a car travelling towards Mitchelstown.
Emergency services were alerted but Ms Twomey was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her niece and the driver of the car, a male in his 20s, were uninjured during the crash.
The scene remained sealedoff overnight to help Garda forensic collision investigators.
A Garda investigation into the incident is under way, and officers are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact them.
Ms Twomey is understood to have worked as a medical secretary at the Convent Road medical practice in Cahir, close to where she died.
Locals described the victim as a keen walker who regularly walked the route where the incident happened.
She was well known and liked and the community has been left distraught by the sudden tragedy.
A Garda spokesman said: “Gardaí in Cahir are investigating and are urging anyone with any information to contact them at 052 74 45630.”
The accident brings to 66 the number of people who have been killed on Irish roads this year.
In total, 34 drivers have been killed while 15 pedestrians have lost their lives. In the same period last year, 68 people had been killed.
In an attempt to reduce the number of fatalities on Irish roads, gardaí have run a number of initiatives and operations in recent months.
As part of this, a further 87 members completed their training and were introduced to Road Policing Units across the country last month.