LAST UPDATE | 17 Aug 2023

A SECOND CLASS pupil who died in hospital yesterday has been remembered as a youngster whose “smile and personality lit up every room he entered.”

André Ladeiro attended Owenabue Educate Together National School in Carrigaline.

He was seriously injured after he was hit by a car at the Ballinrea roundabout on the Cork Road while cycling after 9am last Saturday. He was with a parent and a younger sibling when the incident occurred.

He was taken to Cork University Hospital, and later transferred to Temple Street children’s hospital, where he died yesterday evening, gardaí confirmed this morning.

In a statement management at his school said that they were “shocked and devastated” at the loss of a much loved pupil.

“André joined us in September 2020, the very first day the school opened. From the day he started his journey with us, he brought joy into every room he entered.

“André was a bright, curious boy who above all else was unfailingly kind. André’s smile and personality lit up every room he entered, and every person he met was better for having met him.

The school extended sympathy to the boy’s parents, Filipa and Cesar, his brother Tomás and all of André’s extended family and friends. 

The school has implemented the Critical Incident Management Plan. Psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Service “are supporting and advising the school in our efforts to assist our school community at this time”.

“Our hearts are broken. The world has lost an incredible young man. André, you will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace.”

This marks the third road death in the country in the last 24 hours as two others, one male cyclist in Co Clare and one teenage girl in Limerick City, also died as a result of two separate road crashes.

Earlier this month, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) warned that progress on improving road safety is “in danger of going backwards” after 95 people died on Irish road during the first half of this year.

The deaths of two teenage girls in Co Monaghan last month marked 100 deaths on Irish roads, which was an increase of 11 when compared to the same period last year.

Methods to help prevent this have been suggested by the RSA such as speed limit reviews, as the authority’s chairperson Liz O’Donnell called for a reduction in the speed limits in urban and rural areas at the beginning of last month.

“We know that most people are killed on rural roads where the speed limit is 80 kilometres per hour,” O’Donnell told RTÉ’s News At One.

We need those speed limits taken down, particularly in urban areas and on those rural roads where most of the fatalities are happening.”

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said they are continuing to appeal for any witnesses to the collision in Cork to come forward.

The incident took place on the Cork Road into Carrigaline at the Ballinrea roundabout at approximately 9:20am on Saturday 12 August 2023.

Gardaí are asking that any road users who may have camera footage, including dash-cam footage, who were travelling in the area at around 9.20am on the date in question, are being asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Togher Garda Station on (021) 494 7120, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Additional reporting from Muiris O’Cearbhaill, Emer Moreau and Diarmuid Pepper.