The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, was referred to by the coroner for North Mayo, Dr Mickey Loftus, in Ballina yesterday when he said the tragic accident had focused international attention on the role of alcohol in accidents.
Referring to inquests into drink-related deaths, Dr Loftus said: "We have similar tragedies all around us in our own country and the continuing real tragedy is that we continue to turn the blind eye."
He issued a challenge to politicians, law-makers and law-enforcers to address the ongoing national tragedy and publish a year's detailed statistics, which would give a more realistic picture.
These should give the number of road deaths and the level of blood-alcohol of the victims, details of sudden deaths, many of which, he said, were entered as being due to a whole spectrum of causes from misadventure to hypothermia, and details of hospitalised victims of all road accidents and the level of blood-alcohol in each case.
He said every statistic meant the end of a life, the loss of a parent or family member, which could be avoided. He appealed for action so that living people would not be turned into statistics by the negligence of those who had the power to bring change.