Gardaí not notifying Wexford council of road accidents – ’it’s hard for us to build up an idea of what’s happening’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Senior members of staff at Wexford County Council (WCC) are not being notified of road traffic accidents in their districts despite being responsible for safety measures on the county’s roads.

At the December meeting of the Enniscorthy Municipal District (EMD) roads engineer Neil Dempsey admitted that he wasn’t receiving any official confirmation of accidents from the guards despite his best efforts.

He was responding to a query from Councillor Trish Byrne who requested that safety measures be introduced on the R370.

“At Ballymorris Cross, on the road from Wexford to Kiltealy, there has been some serious accidents in recent weeks,” said Cllr Byrne. “Cars are coming so fast that they can’t see the junction, which is a bad junction at the best of times – could we get some more signage there?” she asked.

“The speed on the R730 is an issue,” accepted Mr Dempsey. “But we weren’t notified of those accidents. I’m trying to work with the guards on this, work on improving communication. We received no notification but I have heard there may have been as many as four accidents in the district last week. It’s hard for us to build up a view of what’s going on at these junctions as a result.”

Continuing the theme, Cllr Pat Kehoe referenced an accident at Kilthomas Junction which involved two fire engines and some injured parties.

“Whether they’re being reported to the council or not these accidents are happening,” he said. “We on the ground are receiving word of them as they happen.”

“I had heard about that accident but again I wasn’t notified (by the guards)” said Mr Dempsey.