It may be several months before a retired detective will know what charges he could face in relation to two linked traffic accidents in south Dublin, after which one man died and three women were hospitalised. Conor Lally reports.
The retired detective was taken to Dún Laoghaire Garda station after his arrest in the early hours of Saturday morning on suspicion of drink-driving. He was breathalysed at the station but it is understood neither a urine nor blood sample was taken from the man.
Two Mercedes cars involved in the accidents were being technically examined by gardaí yesterday and interviews of witnesses had begun. A large number of witnesses has come forward following media coverage and an appeal by gardaí.
Gardaí are expected to treat the suspected drink-driving matter and the two collisions at Blackglen Road and Enniskerry Road as one case and prepare a file accordingly for the DPP.
It may be some weeks before that file is finished and sent to the DPP and a number of months before gardaí get a direction regarding what charges, if any, will be pursued.
Mr Gordon Geary (71), Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin died following a collision between the Mercedes he was driving and a similar car allegedly driven by the former detective. The collision took place at around 1 a.m. on Saturday at Enniskerry Road.
Mr Geary was able to speak to members of the public and an ambulance crew after the crash but he then took seriously ill and died a short time later. His wife was in the car with him at the time and was in St Vincent's Hospital last night where her condition was said not to be life threatening.
Just minutes before the crash involving the Geary couple, two young women, aged 17 and 19, were injured nearby when they were struck by a car at the junction of the Blackglen and Woodside roads. The car involved in the crash failed to stop.
The 17-year-old woman was taken to Beaumont Hospital, where she remained on the critical list last night. The 19-year-old remained in St Vincent's Hospital where her condition was described as critical but stable. The investigation into the chain of events on Saturday morning is being conducted from Blackrock Garda station.
Meanwhile, gardaí have named one of two men who were killed in separate motorcycle accidents in Co Meath on Sunday. Their deaths brought to five the number of people killed on the roads over the weekend and to 219 the number who have lost their lives on Irish roads so far this year.
Mr Leon O'Brien (21), Blakestown Cottages, Blakestown, Dublin, died when the motorcycle he was driving collided with a car on Main Street, Dunboyne, on Sunday at 7.45 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 25-year-old motorcyclist died shortly before 5 p.m. on Sunday when he lost control at Kilskyre, Kells. No other vehicles were involved.
Gardaí at Donnybrook in Dublin are appealing for witnesses to an accident at the Triangle, Ranelagh, on Friday to come forward. A pedestrian, 73-year-old Ms Maureen Whelan, Woodstock Crescent, Ranelagh, was killed when she was struck by a white truck at 10 a.m. Contact Donnybrook Garda station at 01-6669200.