A man whose daughter died tragically in a road crash along with her boyfriend just hours before they were to travel to Australia has called on the Government to officially give its support to a day set aside to commemorate the victims of road collisions.
This Sunday, November 19th, is formally recognised as World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims following the October 2005 adoption of a resolution by the UN.
There is no official plan to mark the day at national level, but the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen will make a statement on the issue later in the week, a spokeswoman said.
The Road Safety Authority said it would use the occasion to again highlight its road safety message.
Michael O'Neill from Monasterboice, Co Louth, whose daughter Fiona (21) and her boyfriend Dominic Wogan (23) were killed in a road crash on November 19th 2001 has distributed posters bearing the words "Remember Me" for the event and will place one near the site of the fatal collision.
The posters were originally produced by RoadPeace.org, a British charity that provides support to those bereaved or injured as a result of road crashes.
The young Co Louth couple died when a lorry struck their car as it waited in a climbing lane to turn right at Tullyesker, Drogheda, on a notoriously dangerous stretch of the main Dublin-Belfast road.
Mr O'Neill said he wanted to organise something to remember those affected by road crashes after he noticed on the RoadPeace website that Sunday's event coincides with the anniversary of the deaths of his daughter and her boyfriend.
Mr O'Neill told The Irish Times he believed the Government should be "rowing in" behind the day of remembrance.
"This is one of the problems I find with the Government - there's an awful lot of talk and no action," he said. The Louth man referred to the problem of Northern Ireland-registered drivers who he said continue to speed with impunity.
"There's very little the Garda can do about them. They don't obey our road signage, they don't obey our speed limits and they don't obey our parking restrictions and the gardaí can do nothing."