Three-year-old who died in Laois collision named locally
Mcdonagh Rosaleen
The three-year-old girl who died following a collision in Co Laois on Thursday has been named locally as Rosaleen McDonagh.
The incident, which which occurred at around 1.15pm on Thursday involved a car and a pedestrian on Cosby Avenue in the Fairgreen residential area in Portlaoise.
The girl was seriously injured and was taken to Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise where she was later pronounced dead.
The scene at Cosby Avenue was preserved for Garda Forensic Collision Investigators to carry out a technical examination.
Portlaoise parish priest Monsignor John Byrne said that the tragic event is one of the latest to hit the country following crashes in Clonmel and Cashel in the last week.
"I think the whole country has been mourning the tragic news that has been coming out of Tipperary with the tragic deaths of Leaving Cert pupils in Clonmel and the tragic death of a three-year-old child and his grandparents in Cashel. Now we have the death of another three-year-old child. This is very sad."
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact them.
Anyone who may have camera footage, including dash cam, and were in the Fairgreen area this afternoon between 12.45pm and 1.30pm are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Portlaoise Garda Station on 057 867 4100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
It was the second fatal collision on Irish roads on Wednesday after a man, aged in his 40s, died following a single-vehicle collision in Co Donegal.
It also comes less than 24 hours after a single-vehicle collision in Tipperary which killed three people, including a three-year-old boy, and left two others seriously injured.
The two adults have been named locally as Tom, 45, and Bridget, 46, O'Reilly and their grandson, three-year-old Tom O'Reilly.
The child’s parents, both aged 22, were injured in the crash.
It brings to 125 the number of people who have died on Irish roads so far this year - 25 more than last year.
The chairwoman of the Road Safety Authority is seeking increased penalty points for dangerous driving as it emerged there have been 600 life-changing crashes so far this year.
Meanwhile, one of the victims of a road crash that claimed four young lives in Co Tipperary will be laid to rest later.
The funeral for Nicole Murphy, 18, will take place at St John the Baptist Church in Kilcash, near Clonmel, at 12pm on Thursday.
Ms Murphy died along with Zoey Coffey and Grace McSweeney, both also 18, and Ms McSweeney’s 24-year-old brother Luke.
Mr McSweeney was driving the teenagers to a bus on Friday when the car overturned and crashed into a wall in Clonmel.