TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS told the Dáil this afternoon that reports of four fatalities on Irish roads today and yesterday were a “stark reminder of the importance of road safety and the dangers on our roads”.

Abbigael Moore-Tournié (8) and her mother Aisling Moore (46) died after their car collided with a lorry shortly before 6pm yesterday on the N26 at Callow between Foxford and Swinford in Co Mayo.

Abbigael Moore-Tournié (8) and Aisling Moore (46) Garda Press Office Garda Press Office

In a separate incident, a man in his 50s died when the car he was driving crashed into a roadside ditch on the R395 at Teevrevagh near Castlepollard, Co Westmeath.

The single-vehicle collision was discovered at around 6.40pm yesterday. Gardaí investigating the incident said this evening that the incident may have occured in previous days.

Another fatal collision in Co Westmeath occurred early this morning, in which a man in his 80s died.

This two-vehicle collision occurred on the R394 at Gartlandstown Castlepollard, Co Westmeath at around 5.30am.

The deceased was a passenger of one of the cars and the driver, a woman in her 60s, was brought to the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore for treatment to serious injuries. 

The driver and passenger of the second car, two men in their 30s and 20s respectively, suffered injuries which are not believed to be life threatening and were brought to hospital.

“I know that communities in Mayo and in Westmeath have been devastated by the news of this loss of life,” said Harris in the Dáil earlier today.

“I know I join with everybody in this house in sending our deepest sympathies to the families of those who have died.”

Harris noted that the number of lives lost on Irish roads now stands at 97 so far this year.

I just wanted to really acknowledge that as a stark reminder of the importance of road safety and the dangers on our roads.”

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also extended her “sympathy and solidarity to the families of those precious lives that were lost”, while Labour leader Ivana Bacik said it was “appalling to hear of four deaths in such a short space of time”.

She said the 97 road deaths so far this year are a “horrific figure at a time when we should be seeing reductions in the numbers of road fatalities”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty acknowledged that road fatalities so far this year are up on the same period last year.

He said there was a “particularly bad first quarter” when 59 people died on Irish roads, compared to 42 in the first quarter of 2023.

Geraghty said this “trend improved during the second quarter of this year” when there were 34 fatalities compared to 41 during the same period last year.

While Geraghty said “things had improved on our roads”, he added that this is “not a good start” at the beginning of the summer months.

He appealed to everyone, “no matter what mode of transport you’re using”, to take care on the roads and noted that there have been fatalities involving e-scooters, motorcycles and quad bikes in recent weeks.

Geraghty said using the road “is the most dangerous thing that you will do every day” and appealed to motorists to “slow down and for everybody to take care of themselves on the roads”.

He added that gardaí carrying out 30 minutes of high visibility policing during shifts is something that is “happening, ongoing and will continue into the future”.

In April, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris issued a directive that resulted in all uniformed gardaí carrying out 30 minutes of roads policing per shift.

“There’s no intention of that being dropped back,” said Geraghty, who added that “initial statistics showed a significant increase in the level of activity on the roads by gardaí”.

He said the operation is “not all about enforcement” and is also “about increasing the visibility on our roads to try and moderate driver behaviour”.

Our aim is to prevent these accidents from happening in the first place, rather than having to investigate them afterwards.”

Geraghty also said the “starting point” of reducing fatalities is for road users to be mindful that they have an “obligation to use the road safely for every other road user”.

“No matter how many members of An Garda Síochána we would have out there, we would not be able to be on every kilometre of road in the country or at every junction in order to monitor people’s behaviour,” said Geraghty.

“When people get behind the wheel of a car or a motorbike, they have a responsibility to take care and to ensure that everybody on our roads stays safe.”