Man (20s) dies following two-vehicle collision in Sligo

The incident, which happened shortly before 6am on the N15 at Urlar, involved a van and a lorry

Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to come forward. Photograph: Alan Betson
Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to come forward. Photograph: Alan Betson

A man in his 20s has died following a road crash near Drumcliffe, Co Sligo.

The collision, which happened shortly before 6am on Sunday on the N15 at Urlar, involved a van and a lorry.

The driver of the van, a man aged in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The lorry driver was taken to Sligo University Hospital for assessment. His injuries are not life-threatening.

The road remains closed and the scene has been preserved for examination by Garda forensic collision investigators. Traffic diversions are in place on the N15 at Urlar, between Drumcliffe and Grange.

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The local coroner has been notified, and a postmortem examination will be arranged.

Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to come forward and are also seeking road users with camera footage, including dashcam footage, who were travelling between Drumcliffe and Grange at the time of the collision to make it available to them.

Anyone with information can contact Sligo Garda station at 071 9157000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

Meanwhile, a motorist in Co Cavan has been caught driving at 196km/h, twice the speed limit for the road, during the Garda’s Bank Holiday weekend roads policing operation.

The offending driver was in a 100km/h zone on the N55 at Kilcogy when caught.

Also in Co Cavan, a driver was detected travelling at 161km/h on the R188 in Drumnagran, Cootehill in an 80km/h zone.

They were among several travelling at extreme speeds, largely on rural roads, highlighted by the Garda as part of the weekend road safety operation, which began on Thursday August 1st.

In Co Donegal, one motorist was detected driving at 145km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N15 in Coolcholly, Ballyshannon, while another was driving at 85km/h in a 60km/h zone on the R267 in Portnason, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.

Earlier in the weekend a motorist was caught in Co Kilkenny driving at 186km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N24 near, Piltown.

In Roscommon, a driver was found doing 107km/h in a 60km/h zone on the on the N4, while another was caught at 93km/h in a 50km/h zone in R510 Dock Road, Limerick, and again in Donegal, a motorist drove at 112km/h in an 80km/h zone on the R250 near Letterkenny.

Up to 7am on Sunday almost 600 drivers were caught breaking the speed limit out of more than 180,000 who were checked by gardaí for speeding . A Garda spokeswoman said it was “positive” that the majority of motorists have been recorded as travelling within the designated speed limit. However, she said the behaviour of some drivers had been “especially dangerous” and she appealed to motorists to slow down.

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly is Dublin Editor of The Irish Times