Litany of young lives lost
February 14th 2004
Dead Oliver McElhinney (29) from Glack, Carndonagh, Co Donegal
The builder was driving his 1998 Peugeot Partner van, with three passengers, on a narrow back road near Redcastle when it crashed into a bridge at around 4am. Speed is believed to have been a factor. His condition was complicated by injuries sustained in a previous serious collision with a truck in Co Meath in September 2003, when he was also the driver. That had resulted in a summons for not wearing a seat belt and he was fined €100 at Trim District Court a month before his death.
June 18th-19th, 2004
Dead Janis Rogis (21), Maris Valbe (22) and Dainis Sters (18) all from Latvia
The three were working in Buncrana. They died after they left a pub at midnight when their untaxed, uninsured, "end-of-life" red Ford Fiesta, bought for 50, crashed into a stone bridge on a narrow back road, flipped over and landed in a stream at Grainne's Gap. A fourth passenger survived. Their bodies were not discovered until 7.45am. The car showed evidence of a collision earlier the same night. Speed and substantial amounts of alcohol are believed to have been factors.
June 25th, 2004
Dead Patrick Harkin (21), Crana View, Buncrana, Co Donegal
He was a passenger in a 1994-registered Vauxhall Cavalier which tried to overtake a truck approaching a traffic island in Buncrana and careered into the back of a lorry at 2.20am. Earlier reports that a car was being driven dangerously around the town had resulted in a Garda chase. This week, the 23-year-old driver of the Vauxhall pleaded guilty in court to dangerous driving causing death. The case was adjourned for a psychiatric report.
July 8th, 2004
Dead Shane Cuffe (18), Owen (Toner) Doherty (18) both from Inishowen, and Áine O'Leary (16) from Skerries, Co Dublin
They died on a dark, minor road at 10.55pm when their 1998-registered Opel Astra - doing speeds of more than 80 mph - struck a bridge at Ballymagan, turned over into a field, hit a tree and disintegrated. Shane Cuffe lived only 20 yards from Patrick Harkin, killed a fortnight earlier. Liz Anne O'Keeffe (16), the daughter of a local garda sergeant, was the sole survivor, the only occupant wearing a seat belt. Áine, her first cousin, had been visiting to buy a debs dress. That night, hundreds of teenagers, communicating by text, descended on the field. "The wailing and crying across the countryside was horrendous", said Garda Supt Vincent O'Brien this week. "That accident scene was one of the most horrific sights I have ever witnessed". Local newspaper, the Inish Times, carried 60 memoriam notices to Shane and Owen on their first anniversary this year, including one from Gavin Duffy and Charlene O'Connor who were killed last weekend.
July 10th, 2004
Dead Adrian McColgan (24), from Muff, Co Donegal
He was waiting with his brother for a taxi near a Greencastle nightclub at 5am, when a speeding Volkswagen Golf GTI lost control, careered across the road and struck him. The car turned over and burst into flames and three men emerged from it. Subsequently arrests were made, but no prosecution ensued. The fire destroyed any potential evidence on the identity of the driver.
August 24th, 2004
Dead Aisling McDaid (11), from Gransha, Buncrana, Co Donegal
She was in the back seat of a BMW 3 series driven by her uncle when the car hit a stone gatepost outside Lisfannon, at around 5.40am. This was a known accident blackspot and driving conditions were poor. They had already had to turn back home for a forgotten passport, and were en route to Belfast airport for a flight to Manchester when the accident occurred.
November 27th, 2004
Dead Sean Cavanagh (21), from Ballyargus, Redcastle, Co Donegal
He had just dropped his mother to work, grabbed a bacon sandwich and was taking a shortcut across the mountain at Grainne's Gap on a bad, narrow road when he lost control of his car, which plunged into a field and turned over. He was thrown out but the car landed on top of him. His body was discovered at 11.05am. A combination of speed as well as alcohol from the night before are believed to have been factors.
December 27th, 2004
Dead Stephen Gray (45), Culdaff
The hard-working hackney driver and father of two had stopped his Hiace at 4.35am to let a passenger out and was standing near the centre of the road when struck by a van coming from the opposite direction. His body was found 50 feet away in a field. It is understood that the 21-year-old driver of the other van did not face charges for dangerous driving causing death after the DPP had considered the available evidence. The Garda investigation is believed to be under review. Stephen Gray had been collecting people from a nightclub and according to witnesses, was carrying 22 passengers in a vehicle licensed for eight.
March 19th, 2005
Dead Kelly Doherty (22) and Alice Rose Mullen (21), from Carndonagh, Co Donegal
They were returning home from a nightclub in Redcastle at around 3.45am when they were killed in a three-car collision. A second car containing a number of friends was travelling in the same direction and the collision happened just after the two cars had come off a bend. All three cars were driven by females. A 21-year-old girl was charged with dangerous driving causing death and is due in court next month. Kelly, Alice Rose and a third friend had earlier been at a fundraising event in Malin for the family of another young friend, Shane Toye, killed in a Co Galway road accident a month before.
August 8th, 2005
Dead Francis Vaughan (28), from Letterkenny, Co Donegal
He was a rear-seat passenger in a taxi taking him from his job at a Buncrana call centre to Letterkenny at 6.20pm when it collided with an 05 registered jeep, driven by a 17-year-old male, towing a trailer, as they rounded a bend at Fahan. The case is under investigation.
October 8th, 2005
Dead Gavin Duffy (21), Darren Quinn (21), Rochelle Peoples (22), Charlene O'Connor (21), all from Buncrana and David Steele (23) from Quigley's Point, Co Donegal
They were killed when their Peugeot 306 was in a head-on collision with a Mazda near Quigley's Point on Saturday morning. The Mazda driver remains seriously ill in Altnagelvin Hospital.
October 9th, 2005
Dead Brian Power (22) from Creggan, Derry
He was the sixth road accident victim on Inishowen's roads last weekend, when the car in which he was a back-seat passenger crashed into a ditch before hitting a pillar near Muff - two miles from the previous accident - at around 3.10am. Brian Power was the only one of the five occupants not thrown clear by the impact. The 17-year-old driver was later arrested and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
Figures cover 21 of the 25 fatalities in the past 18 months