SEVEN YOUNG men who were travelling in one car crashed in Foxford town early yesterday while returning from a party. It is the latest in a series of crashes this summer involving groups of young people.
All of the men, who had been returning home from a night out in Westport, were brought by ambulance to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar, following the crash at Church Road, Foxford, at about 4.45am.
A spokesperson for HSE West said yesterday morning all of the victims were in a stable condition.
The Opel Astra car in which the youths were travelling was a write-off following the impact. The vehicle first hit a wall and then a pole. The N26 Ballina to Swinford road remained closed for most of yesterday as gardaí carried out a technical examination.
The crash transfers the focus to Co Mayo as regards road incidents involving teenagers. It followed a single-car crash outside Killarney, Co Kerry, last week in which four teenagers were killed while returning from a party at about 7am. On July 11th last, eight people lost their lives in a collision in Co Donegal.
Commenting on the latest incident involving young people yesterday, Mayo Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony said confirmation that the injuries were not more serious had come as a relief to their families and the community. He added that a new trend seemed to be developing with young people overloading vehicles.
Five of the young people involved in yesterday’s crash are from the parish of Knockmore, about three miles from Foxford. Another is from Toomore, Foxford, while the seventh is from Foxford town.
The seven are aged between 18 and 21, according to gardaí.
Fire brigade teams had to use cutting equipment to free the youngsters from the wreckage.
Two of the men were later transferred from Mayo General Hospital to hospital in Galway city yesterday while the five others remained in Castlebar.
It is understood that the occupants of a house adjacent to the crash scene raised the alarm after they were awakened by the sound of the car crashing.
Swinford-based Supt Ronan Galligan said yesterday that speed was undoubtedly a factor and added that “an extraordinary amount of people had been crammed into a small car”.
He issued an appeal for any witnesses to the incident to call the Garda at 094-9252990.
A well-known east Mayo bookmaker was killed yesterday afternoon when his car was in collision with a van towing a cherrypicker near Claremorris.
He was named locally last night as Peter Meenan, a married man in his 60s, who lived in Ballyhaunis.
A woman accompanying Mr Meenan was injured and has been detained at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. Her condition was said by the HSE last night to be stable.
The incident occurred at about 3pm at Coilmore on the main Claremorris to Ballyhaunis road.
Mr Meenan, who ran a bookie’s premises in Knock, previously had a bookie’s shop in Ballyhaunis. He has a grown-up family and was a native of Co Donegal.
In Co Kilkenny, Gardaí are investigating a fatal road traffic collision on the N9 near Paulstown yesterday evening. The crash happened at 5.20 p.m. and involved a truck and a car.
The driver of the car, a woman in her early 20s, was fatally injured in the collision. A male passenger in the car received minor injuries and was removed to St. Lukes Hospital in Kilkenny. The truck driver was uninjured.