LAST UPDATE | 25 Sep 2023

A MAN HAS been charged in connection with a crash in Donegal in which a nine-year-old boy was killed on Saturday. 

The man, aged in his 20s, is due to appear before the District Court sitting at Carrick-on-Shannon at 10:30 on Tuesday morning.

Gardaí also seized a vehicle as part of the investigation, which will now undergo a technical examination. 

The boy has been named as Ronan Wilson from Kildress in Co Tyrone. He died at the scene of the crash in Bundoran on Saturday night. 

Ronan Wilson’s local GAA club Kildress Wolfe Tones have paid tribute to the boy. 

“Our club and parish are broken by the tragic and distressing death of our precious Ronan Wilson, a ‘fourth generation gift’ to us from a family who have so willingly contributed so much to our club and to life here,” the club posted on Facebook. 

Chairman of the club Dominic McGurk told the PA news agency that Ronan Wilson had “that sort of wee face you’d never forget”.

“He was always laughing, he was always grabbing the ball,” McGurk said.

“If our senior team was playing a game, at half-time he’d be out kicking about, if our minor team was playing, at half-time or before the game he’d be out on the field with the other lads running after a ball.

“He was just a happy-go-lucky child and he had a wee smile on his face all the time. He just had that wee bit of bubbliness about him.”

McGurk said the club community gathered Ronan’s friends together and held a minute’s silence for him.

He said: “The committee and the club got the message out to the members yesterday morning just to say he had passed away.

“And then the club coaches who coach the under-10-and-a-half team that Ronan played for, they decided the best thing to do for Ronan’s teammates and schoolmates would be to get them all together at the hub.

“Get them down, let them talk, let them run about, kick a ball, whatever they want to do.”

McGurk felt the Kildress community had come together to support each other in the wake of the news, but he said the sudden death of a young player was a “dark day” for the club.

He added: “The feeling yesterday, everyone was just, there was a lot of silence, a lot of numb, a lot of people upset. Children upset, a lot of parents upset.

“It was just a dark day for our club yesterday.

“It’s very hard to get the words to comfort people at a time like that, and we felt what we did was give the children, we told them to remember Ronan, all the good days they had with him.”

Sinn Féin’s vice president Michelle O’Neill has said that “hearts are heavy across the country for the beautiful wee Ronan Wilson”. 

“My thoughts and prayers are with Ronan’s family and his home community of Kildress at this tragic and saddest of times,” O’Neill posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Local SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone said that the news of the nine-year-old’s death was “devastating”. 

“The whole community in Kildress and across Tyrone is broken hearted today,” said McGlone. “The Wilsons are a well-known local family and this tragedy has shocked us all.” 

“My thoughts are with Ronan’s family and friends as they come to terms with this devastating news. I know everyone in Kildress and further afield will be thinking of them and will rally around them in the days ahead.”

Sinn Féin MP Francie Molloy has also offered his sympathies to the Wilson family. 

“The entire community is absolutely heartbroken. No family should have to endure such tragedy,” Molloy said. 

Arrest

Emergency services were alerted shortly after 9.20pm on Saturday that a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle on Atlantic Way in Bundoran. 

Gardaí confirmed shortly before 6pm yesterday evening that a man in his 20s had been arrested in connection with the crash. He was arrested for an alleged offence under the Road Traffic Act and has now been charged. 

Gardaí are continuing to appeal for anyone with information to contact them. 

They have called for anyone who was travelling around Atlantic Way on Saturday evening between 8.45pm and 9.45pm to contact gardaí if they have camera footage.  

Anyone with information is asked to contact Ballyshannon Garda Station 071 985 8530, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station

Four people have died on Ireland’s roads over the past 24 hours in Donegal, Dublin, Kerry and Clare. 

With reporting by Hayley Halpin and Press Association