Two children hit by car in Mulranny

‘Accident waiting to happen’


NRA warned of Mulranny danger days before two children hit by car

Anton McNulty

The National Roads Authority (NRA) was warned that a serious accident would occur in Mulranny village just days before two young sisters hit were by a car at the weekend.
The six-year-old and ten-year-old were knocked down while walking through the village at around 11.10am on Saturday morning. Both were taken to Mayo General Hospital, where the six-year-old’s injuries were initially described as critical. She is now in a stable condition. Her older sister’s injuries were not as serious.
The two girls, who are from Dublin, were staying in the Mulranny Holiday Village with their family. In the aftermath of the accident, the road through the village was closed for up to six hours. Traffic for Achill was diverted through Glenhest and Bangor Erris, causing delays of over an hour for drivers.
The area of the village where the accident occurred has no footpaths and very little room to safely walk. Local councillor Michael Holmes said he met representatives from the NRA last Wednesday and told them a serious accident was inevitable unless a footpath through the village was provided.
“I spoke to the NRA in Dublin and I said it was not a question of will it [a serious accident] happen but when it will happen. I would have loved to have been proved wrong in this instance, but the incident on Saturday shows just how dangerous and serious the situation is,” he said.
The N59, which goes through Mulranny, is the only road into Achill Island. It is particularly busy during the summer and over bank holiday weekends. Since the opening of the Mulranny Park Hotel and the Greenway, the number of people visiting the village has increased, with many more pedestrians and cyclist travelling through the village. Parts of the road through the village are very narrow. with little room on each side to walk.

Barely fits cars
“There is no point in the NRA talking about road safety when you have a village like Mulranny without a footpath and a road which is barely wide enough for two cars to meet. If you are walking with a push-chair and two cars meet, there is no way they could pass you safely. You will have to stop and go back and go into somebody’s private property and have another go at it. I have been lobbying the NRA for a footpath through the village since 2001, and I have been telling them the same thing every year,” said Cllr Holmes.
Last year the NRA allocated €100,000 towards the design and the compulsory purchase of land for a footpath, but there has been no indication that funding will be made available for its construction. In 2009, the NRA constructed a 100-metre stretch of footpath, but there is a further 400 metres of road in the village that remains without a footpath.
Immediate action needed
Local GP and former Independent TD, Dr Jerry Cowley told The Mayo News that the situation is very serious and unless a footpath is put in place the next accident will result in a fatality.
“Thank God nobody was killed in this accident, but unless a footpath is built another accident will occur and the next one could see someone killed. Because the road is so narrow, people have no option but to walk on the road and at times the road is so busy it is dynamite. There have been a number of incidents and near misses in the same spot in the past.
“I can’t understand why a footpath has not been built, and it is the number one item of concern among the residents here in Mulranny.
There was an accident in the same area where a car overturned and the road was closed for a number of hours. It is not like the authorities do not know how serious the situation is. We need action, and we need it now,” he said.

Ambulance took 40 minutes
Dr Cowley added that the accident highlighted the need for the ambulance base which is to be located in Mulranny is be prioritised. He said the ambulance from Castlebar to Mulranny took 40 minutes to arrive.
A building has been purchased in Mulranny with the intention of using it for an ambulance base, but the embargo on HSE hiring means there is no staff to run it.
Dr Cowley called for staff to be redeployed. He said the base would be ideal for serving Achill, Mulranny, Bangor and Newport and will undoubtedly save lives.