LAST UPDATE | 29 Jul

TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has expressed his “deep sorrow” at the deaths of five people of Irish roads over the weekend.

A total of 113 people have now lost their lives on Irish roads this year, Harris said, an increase of 16 in comparison to the same period last year.

“As a country, we have made significant progress in reducing the number of people losing their lives on irish roads in recent years,” he said, adding that any progress is now “at risk”.

“We are now at a critical juncture. We must take steps – as individuals, as communities, as a country – to reverse the trend and prevent more lives being lost.”

The most recent road accident was the death of a man following a single-vehicle crash in Co Meath last night.

Gardaí and emergency services responded to the incident, which occurred on the R161 road from Trim to Navan at Philpotstown shortly before 10pm last night. 

The driver and sole occupant of the car, a man in his 20s, was treated at the scene and brought by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, where he was later pronounced dead.

The scene has been preserved overnight and local traffic diversions are in place pending examination this morning by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators.

The local coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged.

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

They are particularly appealing to any road users who may have camera footage, including dash-cam footage, and were traveling on the R161 road between Navan and Trim, Co Meath between 9.30pm and 10pm on Sunday to make the footage available to them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Navan Garda Station on 046 9079930, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Earlier on Sunday, two men in their 30s were pronounced at the scene of a three-vehicle road traffic collision involving motorcycles in Oldcastle, Co Meath.

The collision occurred at around 4.40pm. Two other men were hospitalised with injuries. 

On Saturday, a 14-year-old boy died after a collision between a car and an e-scooter in Kilkenny. The teenager was on the e-scooter at the time of the collision.

Another man died on Saturday following a single-vehicle crash in Kinsale, Co Cork.

He was a passenger in a car that left the road and hit a tree at Ballynamona, Kinsale, last night around 1.30am. He has been named locally as 40-year-old Finbarr ‘Finny’ Coleman.

The driver of the car, a man in his 30s, was arrested at the scene in connection with offences to the Road Traffic Act. He has since been released without charge.