LAST UPDATE | 18 Jul
TWO PEOPLE KILLED in a road collision in Co Donegal have been named locally as an elderly brother and sister.
PJ McGettigan and his sister Una, both in their 70s, were pronounced dead at the scene following the two car crash in the village of Kilmacrennan late on Wednesday evening.
Gardaí and emergency services were alerted to the collision on the N56 at Kilmacrennan - around 10km to the north of Letterkenny – at around 11.50pm last night.
The driver of the second car, a woman in her 40s, was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital for treatment of serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The scene of the collision remained closed overnight and for most of today as Garda Forensic Collision Investigators launched an investigation into the crash.
Head of the Donegal Garda Traffic Corps, Inspector Seamus McGonigle, said he as appealing to anybody who may have been in the area to contact them.
He said “This is a busy road and the main road artery into West Donegal.
“We would appeal to anybody who was in the area at the time and who may have witnessed the incident or may have dashcam footage to get in touch.
“This was a tragic incident and we would appeal to anybody who was in the area between 11.30pm and midnight to get in touch.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milford Garda Station on 074 915 3060, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
The death of the brother and sister brings to eight the number of people who have been killed on Donegal roads so far this year.
The total number of fatalities on Donegal roads for all of last year was ten.
Mr McGettigan, a former psychiatric nurse, was well-known in boxing circles and was a former coach with Carrigart Boxing Club.
His late sister previously worked in the Fruit of the Loom clothing factory and lived at Glen in Carrigart.
In a separate two-vehicle collision yesterday near Enfield in Co Meath, a woman in her 80s was fatally injured.
The collision happened on the R148 at around 2pm.
The driver of one of the vehicles, a woman in her 80s, was killed while the driver of the second vehicle was taken to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
An examination of the scene by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators has since concluded and the road has re-opened.
Any road users who may have camera footage, including dash-cam, and were travelling in the area at the time are asked to make this footage available to gardaí, who can be contacted at Trim Garda Station on 046 948 6140.
Four people have died on Irish roads in the past 24 hours.
These road fatalities bring the number of people who have died on Irish roads this year to 110, an increase of 16 on the same period last year.
Last year, 184 people were killed on Irish roads, up almost 20% in a year and 33% higher than before the pandemic.
Ireland still has one of the lowest road fatality rates per million inhabitants in the EU, with only the Nordic countries, Germany and The Netherlands doing better.
-With additional reporting by Stephen Maguire
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