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THE TWO TEENAGERS who died in a road crash in Co Donegal have been named locally as Alana Harkin and Thomas Gallagher.
Gardaí said Harkin and Gallagher, in their late teens, died in the collision in the Gleneely area in the early hours of yesterday.
A second male, also in his late teens, was taken to hospital with injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.
One car was involved in the incident on the R238 at Terrawee at around 12.30am.
“Two occupants of the car, a female and male aged in their late teens, were pronounced deceased at the scene and their bodies have been removed to Letterkenny University Hospital,” a Garda spokesperson said.
“The third occupant of the car, a male aged in his late teens, has been taken to Letterkenny University Hospital to be treated for injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.”
Gardai in Buncrana are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact them on 074 932 0540, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
The chairman of the Inishowen Municipal District of Donegal County Council, Terry Crossan, said he was “completely horrified” to learn of the crash.
“I would like to offer my sincere condolences to their parents and to their wider extended families.
“I would also like to take the opportunity to commend the emergency services, the gardai, the ambulances, who have to deal with these situations first hand.
“To have lost two more of our young people is absolutely tragic.”
Speaking to The Journal yesterday morning, Donegal County Councillor Jack Murray said the Inishowen community is “in mourning” and will be “devastated by the loss of two young lives”.
“As a community we’ve been hit by many tragedies over the years,” Murray said.
“People will be extremely saddened when they hear the news this morning. My thoughts and prayers are with the family at this extremely difficult time.”
There have been more road deaths so far in 2023 than in all of 2022, something Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has called a “matter of enormous concern”.
Speaking to reporters at the opening of N22 Baile Bhuirne-Macroom bypass in Co Cork yesterday, Varadkar said: “There’s no one thing that makes our roads safer. You have to do lots of different things.
“So, increasing enforcement is part of that, that is about additional gardaí, it is also about more GoSafe vans and they’ve been approved.
“It is also about improving our roads and making sure they’re well maintained – and also about education.”
Varadkar added that there has been “so much progress in the last couple of decades”.
“There was a time when 600, 700 people were dying on our roads and really disturbing to see that number that had come down, go back up again – and something I’ll be taking a personal interest in as Taoiseach.”
Includes reporting by Press Association
They could start by stopping electric scooters and cyclists using footpaths which is already illegal but this law being totally disregarded.
@Jimmy Wallace: True, autonomy is the future, but watch as the idea is laughed out by the ‘no we cant’ brigade (Irish population). This morning according to the other articles pertaining to road deaths, lorries and trucks are the problem. But let’s keep all of our goods transport on the roads regardless.
@Paul OBrien: vast majority of road deaths are speed,the more bicycles and scooters the better for our environment and health…
@Jimmy Wallace: we agree on all matters but in cities in particular blindspot technology doesn’t work at low speeds. Please have all trucks banned from cities. We truck drivers would love that utopia.Come and collect your stuff. Also buses have the same issues and they kill as many people.
Also trucks are no more likely to have accidents on the roads as any other vehicle but clearly a truck accident is far more dangerous. Left hand drive vehicles are 8 times more likely to have an accident although I drive one myself this is down to cheap labour from country with poor drivers standards. The IRHA are trying to bring in Moldovans South Africans and many more low standard drivers. The rsa complicit in this. Watch the numbers climb.
@Jimmy Wallace: the studies you are claiming to exist I can produce counter studies. Trucks are no more likely to be in accidents than other vehicles and if you take accidents per km travelled its less still. I’m sitting here on my scania in the UK and my indicator is on and but the collision control system doesn’t work at under 10kmh. Yes the cameras are a huge help and in my view must be made compulsory but they do not cover everything. The public must be educated around large moving vehicles and approaching them. Trucks and buses are still the safest vehicles on the road.
@Jimmy Wallace: It’s not peoples fault for making a living, but it’s the responsibility of elected officials to provide infrastructure that works to make life better for the people that need it, currently we do the opposite, and why? Cost saving.
@Jimmy Wallace: zip it. How do you know that they didn’t go onto the road and got hit and not the fault of the driver
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