A section of the N26 in Co Mayo where a mother and her daughter were killed last month was described by a coroner on Monday as “not fit for modern traffic”.
Patrick O’Connor, coroner for Mayo, made his comments at the opening of an inquest into the deaths of Aisling Moore (46) and her eight-year-old daughter, Abbigael Tournié Moore.
They died on July 2nd when their car was in collision with a lorry at Callow between Foxford and Swinford.
Eamon Moore, father of Aisling and grandfather of Abbigael, attended the brief hearing, as did Aisling’s sister, Anita.
An Irishwoman sailing around the world: ‘This paradise has just seven residents and two dogs’
Tailbacks from Forty Foot stretch for miles as Christmas swimmers descend
‘What has you here?’: Eight years dead and safe in a Galway graveyard, yet here Grandad was standing before me
Róisín Ingle: My profound, challenging, surprisingly joyful, life-changing year
Mr O’Connor told the family he knew they shared his concerns about the safety of the stretch of road where their loved ones died.
“The local authority and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will have to do something about the stretch of road,” he said.
A pathologist gave evidence that the medical cause of death in Aisling’s case was extensive fatal injuries including head injuries.
The medical cause of Abbigael’s death was extensive head injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, pathologist Dr Tamas Nemeth said.
Mr O’Connor informed the family it would take some time before a full investigation is carried out. He said he was opening the inquest so that a State death certificate could be issued.
“The Garda investigation will be thorough and will take quite an amount of time,” the coroner stated.
He then adjourned the substantive inquest hearing pending the completion of the Garda investigation.
Gardaí, first responders and civilians who attended the scene were thanked by the coroner and Sgt Ronan Drury, courts presenter for An Garda Síochána.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis