‘Ridiculous’ lack of information on road accidents in Roscommon criticised

The lack of information being provided to Roscommon County Council on road accidents is “ridiculous”, according to a Castlerea-based councillor.

A meeting of the Roscommon Municipal District heard that Cllr Paschal Fitzmaurice had sought information on all road accidents from January 2025 onwards from the gardaí in the interests of road safety and to assist the council in planning road safety schemes.

MD co-ordinator Tom McDermot told the meeting that he recently received correspondence from An Garda Síochána, with the gardaí saying they were unable to provide the data requested. An Garda Síochána suggested that the information may be available from the Road Safety Authority.

“It’s a very disappointing reply to be honest,” said Cllr Fitzmaurice. The meeting heard that the council had previously been informed of road traffic accidents but not now.

The Castlerea man said it was a “ridiculous” situation. “We have the TII on one hand saying there is no record of accidents in an area, then another organisation saying we can’t give you the records,” he said. “It is typical.” He gave Cloonfad as an example, with TII saying there were no records of accidents, “yet we know there are numerous accidents there”.

He said that a number of years ago €20,000 was provided for safety measures at Cloonfad, “and I don’t think there was anything ever done with it”.

He asked that the council write to the RSA to see if the information could be provided.

Cllr Nigel Dineen agreed with his colleague, saying councillors were receiving no answers on road safety issues.

“Residents are getting very frustrated,” the Independent Ireland councillor said. He added that significant funding had been spent in Cloonfad, and “we still have accidents happening”.

“We have to get that information,” he said.

The meeting also heard that motorists’ speed continued to be a feature at Cloonfad, with Cllr Fitzmaurice calling for more enforcement in the area.