Two people, including a special adviser to the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, were killed yesterday when a coach carrying more than 40 passengers collided with two cars on the Dublin-Galway road.
Ms Gobnait O'Connell, from Millstreet, Co Cork, died when the oncoming coach collided with the car she was driving. The Citylink coach had lost control after clipping the side of another oncoming vehicle, the driver of which also died.
Citylink's managing director, Mr Jim Burke, said he had been told by the bus driver that "a car came straight at him and went under the front of the bus".
Gardai investigating the incident have yet to establish a cause for the collision but said they had not ruled out the possibility that it resulted from an overtaking manoeuvre which went wrong.
The incident occurred at about 3.55 p.m. on a straight stretch of road at Leinster Bridge on the Kildare/Meath border.
The two people killed were the drivers of the first and second cars which collided with the coach. Ms O'Connell, who was driving the second car, was travelling alone, returning from a function in Tullamore, attended by the Minister and other Department officials.
The secretary general of the Department, Mr Michael Kelly, had been following her in a separate car and was believed to have been one of the first people on the scene. Both Ms O'Connell and the other victim, a middle-aged man, were declared dead on admission to the hospital.
When he heard of the accident, Mr Martin, who was travelling back to Dublin by a different route, diverted to Naas General Hospital where he spent a number of hours.
Almost 40 passengers along with the driver and a conductor on the Citylink coach were taken to hospital with various injuries. Minutes after the collision, a major emergency plan was activated by the Eastern Regional Health Authority, involving the ambulance, hospital and fire services as well as the Garda.
A fleet of 15 ambulances from the Midland, North Eastern and Eastern regional health boards was dispatched to the scene. Some 29 casualties were taken to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin. Fifteen of the casualties had minor injuries, 10 moderate injuries and four serious injuries. Of the four, three underwent surgery and were said to be in a stable condition last night. The fourth was being treated in the coronary care unit.
A further six people who suffered minor injuries were taken to Tallaght Hospital. Two other people were taken to Mullingar Hospital and a pregnant woman was treated for injuries in the Rotunda Hospital.
The double fatality brings to 289 the number of people killed on the roads so far this year. This represents a marginal decline on last year when 303 died in the same period.