Father of Achill motorist pleased with European meeting

Father of Achill motorist pleased with European meeting


Anton McNulty

THE father of Achill woman, Aisling Gallagher, who died following a traffic accident near Mulranny in 2005 claimed that European MEP’s were shocked to hear that nothing has been done to introduce road safety audits for local roads.
Tommy Gallagher’s daughter Aisling (22) died on December 22, 2005 when she lost control of her car on a stretch of road outside Mulranny. At the time, the road, where Mayo County Council was carrying out resurfacing works, was coated with a temporary road surface, deep bitumen macadam (DBM), which is notoriously slippery without a chipped gripping surface on top.
He has been campaigning for her death to be fully investigated and feels they are not getting any accountability from Mayo County Council or the National Roads Authority. Last week, Mr Gallagher along with the Keane and Farren families - whose daughters died in similar circumstances - travelled to Brussels to address the Petitions Committee meeting on Road Safety and local roads in Ireland at the European Commission.
The Petitions Committee has no legal powers but Tommy said he was pleased with the outcome which recommends that the three families be invited to state their case before the Oireachtas Transport Committee.
“Far more sympathy was given to us in Brussels than I have got from anyone in Mayo County Council or from any national authority,” he said following the meeting. “It was definitely worth it because it is out there now and somebody else knows. The committee said that what we are saying looks so logical and if we have been saying it for the last five years how come the message is not getting through? They said to go straight into the Transport Oireachtas committee and tell them face to face and get an answer from them.”
The meeting was organised by Mayo MEP, Jim Higgins who said he was happy with the outcome and hopes to put pressure on the Irish government to introduce road safety audits for local roads.
“At present no independent body inspects local roads - this is simply unacceptable. The Irish government have signed up to the EU Directive on Road Infrastructure Safety Management yet they are unwilling to apply the same standards to their local roads. This selective approach to road safety is farcical and will not protect Irish drivers. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that all public roads are safe, this includes rural and local roads,” he said.
Jim Higgins paid tribute to the Farren, Gallagher and Keane families who have ‘shown incredible strength and courage in their pursuit for justice’.
“They are not out for revenge or compensation they just want answers from those responsible and change in the condition of local roads so that no other family has to go through the pain which they have so stoically endured. We are not asking for the government to turn our local roads into motorways we merely want safe roads with adequate signage, in this day and age I really do not think that is too much to expect.”