A nurse killed in a hit-and-run collision has been described by her former football coach as a “dedicated carer” who “always had a quiet smile for you”.
Áine O’Reilly, who was aged in her 30s, had been driving to work at after-hours GP service Shannondoc in Limerick City, when she was involved in a three-car collision on Friday.
She died instantly in the crash which occurred on the N24, a short distance from her family home at Pallasgreen.
The male driver of another car fled the scene. Gardaí said on Sunday that they were following “a definite line of inquiry” in respect of the motorist.
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A man who was driving a third car, that was also caught up in the collision, was treated at University Hospital Limerick for non-life threatening injuries.
Áine O’Reilly had followed in her parents’ footsteps into the public service – her father, Eugene, is a retired garda and her mother, Anne, is a retired teacher. Their daughter was dedicated to helping others through her work, said her former football coach, Noreen Stokes.
“It is a huge shock, there is a huge cloud over the community. Áine was a young lady going to do her job in a caring profession as a nurse, and for her life to be cut down like that is a serous tragedy,” said Stokes, a local teacher and an elected member of Limerick City and County Council.
“Áine’s family are a very quiet, unassuming family. She was the only girl, her father is a retired garda, her mother is a retired teacher, and I would have know Áine from when I taught the local underage girls football team.”
Stokes said Áine O’Reilly had always come across as a quiet and refined woman.
“And obviously with the profession that she took on, those qualities came out, she went into a profession to care and look after people to the best of her ability,” she said.
“Any time I ever met her in her adult years she always had a quiet smile, a smile of recognition on her face. She was on her way to work when her young life was cut so dramatically short.”
Áine O’Reilly is survived by three brothers, one of whom is now on his way home from Dubai, Stokes said.
“There’s a lot of questions to be asked and lots of answers to be found, it’s such a shock for any garda to come to their door and tell them that their daughter has been killed. I spoke to Áine’s father but I cannot even think how the family are feeling,” she said.
“The family played key roles in the community and the community will do its best to try to support them throughout and beyond this awful tragedy.”
On Saturday, gardaí appealed for witnesses and dash-cam footage relating to the fatal collision.
Releasing a statement on Sunday, they said they were following a definite line of inquiry, and they thanked the public for their assistance. Investigations are ongoing.
O’Reilly’s funeral mass will take place at 11.30am, at St John the Baptist Church in Nicker on Wednesday morning, with burial afterwards in St Columba’s cemetery Pallasgreen.
