A road safety advertising campaign is to start in Donegal over the coming weeks in an effort to reduce the number of road deaths as the county continues to experience a higher rate of fatalities than the national average.
Figures in Donegal this year are also going against the national trend, which has shown a small decrease in road deaths.
A total of 18 people have been killed in road accidents in the country since January, five more than the figure for this time last year. The tragic accident two weeks ago in Fintown when five people were killed, four 17-year-old Belfast schoolboys and a nine-year-old boy travelling in another car, has been the main reason for the increase in this year's statistics.
Mr Kieran Doherty, of the North Western Health Board, said the road-safety campaign would be run through the local media and would focus on the dangers of speeding and on pedestrian safety.
Concerted efforts have already been made in the county to bring down road deaths with the gardai, county council and the North Western Health Board working jointly on the issue through a road safety working group. Garda Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick said that over the past two years the gardai in Donegal had more than doubled resources in the traffic corps, which has now about 30 full-time members.
He said they had opted for a "high visibility" approach, putting a number of marked patrol jeeps and cars on the roads to deter motorists from speeding. More than 7,500 speeding tickets were issued last year. The gardai had also worked closely with Donegal County Council to alert officials to particularly dangerous stretches of road.