A WOMAN HAS died after being struck by a truck while she was cycling in Dun Laoghaire in Dublin this morning. 

There have now been four deaths on Irish roads in the space of 24 hours.

A motorcyclist died following a collision with a truck in Co Cork this morning. Yesterday, a woman in her 80s died in a single vehicle collision in Co Donegal and a motorcyclist died following a collision between a van and a motorcycle in Co Cork. 

The incident in Dun Laoghaire, involving a cyclist and a truck, happened at the junction of Glenageary Road Upper, Mountown Road Lower and Kill Avenue at around 8am. 

The cyclist, a woman aged in her 20s, was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where she later passed away from her injuries.

The road remains closed at this time and a technical examination of the scene by Forensic Collision Investigators is taking place. Local diversions are in place.

Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.

Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the area are asked to make this footage available to gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Dun Laoghaire Garda Station on 01 666 5000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.

In Cork, a motorcyclist in his 40s died following a collision with a truck in near Toureenfineen shortly before 8am.

The man’s body was taken to Cork University Hospital where a post-mortem will take place. The road remains closed at this time. Local diversions are currently in place.

Garda Forensic Collision Investigators are currently carrying out their examination of the scene.

Gardaí are likewise appealing to any person who may have witnessed this collision to contact them. Road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were travelling in the area at the time are asked to make this available to gardaí.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mallow Garda Station on 022 31450 the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.

This marks the fourth death on Irish roads over the space of 24 hours. 

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has today warned that a “substantial” fall in the number of gardaí assigned to road policing is risking the state’s ability to tackle rising road deaths and worsening dangerous driving.

In a submission to the Oireachtas Transport Committee, with which it will meet this afternoon, the RSA notes that despite increases in fatalities in four of the past five years, there have been “subtantial reductions in the numbers in the roads policing unit”.

The RSA will note a fall from 1,046 members in 2009 to 627 as of February – a fall of 40%.

Uniform gardaí have recently been instructed to carry out 30 minutes of “high visibility” roads policing per shift in an attempt to improve driver behaviour given the stark increase in the number of people dying on the roads.

In a wide-ranging submission, the RSA also defended the change in approach in its campaigning in recent years, in particular a move away from “shock road safety adverts”.

In the past, dramatised ads depicting catastrophic collisions and their effects were frequently shown on terrestrial television. These included 2007′s ‘Mess’ campaign in which a boy racer collides with another car, killing his passenger and a boy standing at a nearby wall and leaving a girl with permanent damage to her legs.

With reporting by Valerie Flynn and Jane Moore.