Three die in road crashes and one in tragic accident over the weekend

STEPHEN MAGUIRE and OLIVIA KELLEHER Three people died in road crashes over the weekend and a fourth person was killed in a tragic accident off the coast of Donegal.

Yesterday afternoon, a photographer died after falling from rocks and into the sea at Fanad Lighthouse off the north coast of the county.

The man, in his 60s and from Co Antrim, was taking photographs when he lost his footing. He fell on to rocks and became trapped in a gulley at the bottom of the cliffs. Another person on the scene contacted Malin Head Coast Radio station shortly after 2.30pm.

Two lifeboats from the Lough Swilly RNLI at Buncrana as well as the Mulroy Coastguard and the Rescue 118 helicopter from Sligo were launched, and two other local fishing boats, the Mary Ellen and Annie went to the scene.

Northwesterly gales prevented the rescue vessels reaching the casualty for some time, but the Mulroy Coastguard eventually managed to reach the man and took him to shore. Attempts were made to resuscitate him before he was brought by helicopter to Letterkenny General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Warning to walkers

A spokesman for Malin Head Coast Guard said conditions were very bad with heavy seas and gale force winds. He asked people to take extra care when walking or exploring.

In Cork, a man in his 30s and a woman in her 40s died following a single vehicle crash in Cork on Saturday.

Anne-Marie O’Connor from Bandon and John Carroll from the north side of Cork city died when their car hit a ditch at Ballinahina at White’s Cross at about 12.30am.

They were pronounced dead at the scene and their bodies were taken to Cork University Hospital for postmortem.

A 50-year-old man was killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking at North Road, Swords, Co Dublin, shortly after 3am on Saturday morning. Gardaí at Swords arrested a 29-year-old man in connection with the death and he remained in custody last night.

They have appealed for witnesses. They are anxious to speak to two women who took a lift in a dark-coloured Volkswagen Golf car in the Swords area around the time of the death.