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LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago
THE MAN WHO died in a bus crash on Dublin’s North Earl Street yesterday has been named locally as Frank Daly.
It’s understood that Frank, who was aged in his 80s, was local to East Wall in the north inner city.
Sinn Fein councillor Janice Boylan told The Journal that Frank was well known in the local area, and that he regularly chatted to neighbours in his garden.
She said that he was “fit and healthy” at 86 years of age, and that he walked to Ann’s Bakery in town for his dinner every day.
Boylan added that Frank was known for his walking, and that there was a well known story about him walking “all the way to Dun Laoghaire and back for an ice cream once in the summer”.
She said he lived alone and had a brother.
“This is a truly devastating loss to the community”, Boylan added.
A bouquet of flowers and a card were placed on Frank’s usual table in Ann’s Bakery today, it included a photo of Frank celebrating his birthday in the café.
Rumen, a staff member of ten years, told The Journal that Frank was “like a grandfather” to him.
“I don’t have my grandfather here, so he was that for me. I didn’t get to see him in the last week because he’d had some work done on his teeth. And now I can’t believe he’s gone. We are all feeling for his family right now. He was a great man,” he said.
Siobhan Doran, a long time member of the Ann’s Bakery team said that Frank was “one of a kind”.
“He was a real gentleman, at Christmas he’d have presents for all the staff. He was very well kept, a real Sergeant Major,” Siobhan said.
She said that for years Frank was a regular at Ann’s previous location on Mary Street, and that over the years he became “a close friend” to her.
Siobhan and the other staff got a cake for Frank’s birthday each year.
Siobhan said that he had family in America, and that he’d travelled over there to visit them many times.
“Once that shop went on Mary Street everything went, with older people coming in, but Frank and some other regulars including Carmen and John would come in every day.
“When we told Carmen after we got the terrible news last night that it was Frank who’d died, we told Carmen and she said she couldn’t believe it, she was only speaking to him yesterday morning. It’s a terrible shock for everyone,” Denise, another staff member at Ann’s said.
Siobhan said that Frank was “very particular”.
“He’d walk in with his paper and get his fry. Two bangers, two rashers, and two fried eggs,” she said.
Siobhan added that all of the regulars and staff members at Ann’s will deeply feel Frank’s loss, and that they are all thinking of his family at this time.
Crash
Three other people who were injured in the crash were taken to hospital to be treated for their injuries.
A second male pedestrian in his 20s is being treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the bus, a woman in her 50s, and a female pedestrian in her 30s are being treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Bus Éireann said the bus was not in service at the time of the crash and its CEO Jean O’Sullivan said she is “profoundly saddened by this tragic incident”.
President Catherine Connolly expressed her “deepest condolences” to the man who was killed and thanked the emergency services for their “swift attendance”.
She also sent her “best wishes to those injured and wish them a speedy recovery, as well as to all those impacted” yesterday in the wake of the tragedy.
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