LAST UPDATE | 3 Jul

SWINFORD LOCALS ARE “heartbroken beyond words” after a mother and her eight-year-old daughter died in a crash.

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.

GAA and athletics clubs expressed grief at the deaths, recalling the involvement of mother and daughter in the locality.

Swinford Athletic Club, where Abbigael was a member, said the news of the fatal crash has “rocked us to the core” and that members were “heartbroken” after hearing the news.

It said on social media that Abbigael had a “bubbly personality” and “beautiful smile” which it always treasure.

“Abbigael became a member at age 5 in our little athletic group [and] was the first child waiting for the gate to open every Tuesday evening, rail, hail or shine, and never missed a session, such was her love and enthusiasm for running, cartwheels and having fun,” it added in its tribute.

Her mother Aisling was a staunch volunteer in the club, with both “valued and respected” members of the local community.

Kiltimagh GAA also paid tribute to the mother and daughter, saying that they will be “missed dearly” by all at the club.

“We hold Aisling and Abbigael’s family and friends in our thoughts and prayers,” it said.

Local councillor John Caulfield told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the area is “absolutely devastated”.

“Imagine that a young child starting off the summer holidays, with all the dreams of spending time with parents and grandparents and days out, all which are never to be again,” he said.

“It was like a cloud fell over the town, and so soon after we lost two people in Swinford in a house fire just a few months ago.”

He added that it’s a close-knit community that will no doubt rally around the bereaved.

A man in his 50s has also died after the car he was driving crashed into a roadside ditch in Co Westmeath yesterday evening.

So far this year, 96 people have died on Irish roads – 11 more than in the same period last year.

Caulfield said the increase in road deaths is “worrying”, but did not point to a trend in collisions.

“Conditions were quite good yesterday. I think [the crashes] are seen in isolation.”

The driver of the lorry in the Mayo crash was taken to hospital with injuries that are understood to be non-life threatening.

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

With reporting by Eoghan Dalton