Courts

Mayo road where mother and daughter died last month ‘not fit for modern traffic’, says coroner

Aisling Moore (46) and her daughter Abbigael Moore Tournié (8) died following collision at Callow between Foxford and Swinford

Aisling Moore and her daughter Abbigael (8). Photograph: Garda Press
Tom Shiel
Mon Aug 19 2024 - 13:24

A section of the N26 in Co Mayo where a mother and her daughter were killed last month was described by a coroner on Monday as “not fit for modern traffic”.

Patrick O’Connor, coroner for Mayo, made his comments at the opening of an inquest into the deaths of Aisling Moore (46) and her eight-year-old daughter, Abbigael Moore-Tournié.

They died on July 2nd when their car was in collision with a lorry at Callow between Foxford and Swinford.

Eamon Moore, father of Aisling and grandfather of Abbigael, attended the brief hearing, as did Aisling’s sister, Anita.

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Mr O’Connor told the family he knew they shared his concerns about the safety of the stretch of road where their loved ones died.

“The local authority and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will have to do something about the stretch of road,” he said.

A pathologist gave evidence that the medical cause of death in Aisling’s case was extensive fatal injuries including head injuries.

The medical cause of Abbigael’s death was extensive head injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, pathologist Dr Tamas Nemeth said.

Mr O’Connor informed the family it would take some time before a full investigation is carried out. He said he was opening the inquest so that a State death certificate could be issued.

“The Garda investigation will be thorough and will take quite an amount of time,” the coroner stated.

He then adjourned the substantive inquest hearing pending the completion of the Garda investigation.

Gardaí, first responders and civilians who attended the scene were thanked by the coroner and Sgt Ronan Drury, courts presenter for An Garda Síochána.