Three die in weekend crashes

TWO MEN are being questioned by gardaí today following a fatal collision in west Dublin which investigators suspect involved …

TWO MEN are being questioned by gardaí today following a fatal collision in west Dublin which investigators suspect involved a stolen vehicle.


The men, who are in their 20s, were arrested in Blanchardstown in the early hours of this morning following the incident.

The driver, a 24-year-old man, died from the injuries he received when the car crashed into a roundabout on the Ongar Distribution Road at around 2.30am.

His body was taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, where a post mortem examination is to be carried out.

The scene of the crash remained closed for some time yesterday while a garda forensic team carried out a technical examination of the area.

A Garda spokesman said the car was not being pursued when it crashed, but that they believe the vehicle was taken from Johnstown, Co Meath, in February.

The two men were arrested near the scene of the crash and are being detained at Blanchardstown garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

Meanwhile, gardaí in north Dublin are investigating a fatal collision in which a male pedestrian suffered fatal injuries yesterday morning.

The man, who was in his 20s, was struck by a car on the Clontarf Road at around 6.30am. He was taken from the scene of the crash to the Mater Hospital, where he died a short time later.

Elsewhere, a 54-year-old man who died in a single vehicle collision in Co Clare on Saturday evening has been named.

Jim Ahearn, of Kilrush in Co Clare, died when the Landrover Discovery he was driving hit a tree and overturned at Tullabrack East, about 5km from Kilrush.

Mr Ahearn was the sole occupant of the vehicle and his body was removed from the scene of the crash to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where a post mortem examination was conducted.

Gardaí in Co Clare are examining all aspects of the crash.


The weekend's fatalities bring the number of deaths on the State's roads this year to 62, some 20 fewer than in the corresponding period last year.