Road Deaths Hit 100

A tragic milestone – or gravestone to be more appropriate – has been reached with news that the latest road death victim is the 100th person to be killed on Northern Ireland's roads so far this year.

The man died following a crash on the Tirnascobe Road outside Armagh City on Monday night.

The collision, which is believed to have involved just one vehicle, was reported to police shortly before 10.40pm.

Reports say that four other people were in the vehicle. One of the four, a female, is said to be in a stable condition. The other three were not seriously injured.

Meanwhile, a woman cyclist killed in a hit-and-run incident brought to six the number of people killed on the Republic's roads over the weekend.

Her death, and that of another two men who died, brings to 315 the number of people who have been killed on the country's roads this year.

The woman, who was in her 60s, was struck by a van as she cycled along Kildare Road in Rathangan, Co Kildare.

She was taken to Naas Hospital where she was pronounced dead. A 26-year-old man was later arrested by gardai in connection with the investigation and a van was recovered.

In Galway city centre, a man was killed and a woman seriously injured in a two-car crash on the Quincentennial Bridge. Several other cars managed to narrowly avoid the collision.

Earlier yesterday a 32-year-old man was killed in a single vehicle accident at Tyrrellspass in Co Westmeath.

He lost control of the car he was driving and crashed at around 8.30am. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was later removed to the mortuary at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar.

Meanwhile, on Saturday an 84-year-old pedestrian was killed when she was hit by a car in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo.

The single-vehicle incident occurred on the outskirts of the town at about 8.35pm and the woman was taken to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.

This latest tragedies will lend impetus to a call for more investment in the roads, with news emerging that Northern Ireland has received only a fifth of the equivalent investment in England.

An expert from the University of Ulster has warned lives could be put at risk if what he described as "piecemeal repairs" take the place of proper investment.

The disparity has just been disclosed by the Assembly's Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy, in response to an Assembly written question.

(BMcC/KMcA)