Teenage girl killed in horror Wicklow crash named as tributes pour in
Gardai have issued an appeal for witnesses
The latest victim of Ireland’s road carnage was a girl aged just 15, it has emerged.
The Irish Mirror has confirmed that Molly Dempsey – who died in an early morning smash in her home town in Co Wicklow – turned 15 at the end of January.
Molly, who came from a well-respected family in Baltinglass, is now the 71st person to die on the state’s roads in 2024 – up 18 on the same time period last year.
The teenager died when the car in which she was a passenger crashed on a road 3kms south of the town at around 5am yesterday.
A male friend, who is also a teenager, was driving the car – but he was not seriously injured.
But he was later arrested in relation to the crash and was being held on suspicion of committing an offence under road safety legislation. He was later released, with a file being prepared for the DPP. Sources said, however, that there was a suspicion of drink driving.
Molly’s parents Mary and Nigel were being comforted by family and friends last night – as gardai appealed for witnesses to come forward.
A spokesman said: “Gardaí are currently at the scene of a fatal single vehicle road traffic collision that occurred shortly before 5am on Sunday 5 May at Slaney Park in Baltinglass, County Wicklow.
“The passenger of the car involved, a female youth in her teens, was pronounced deceased at the scene. No other serious injuries to persons was reported.
“The driver of the car, a male youth in his teens, was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Road Traffic Act. He is still being detained at a Garda Station in Wicklow under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
“The road at Slaney Park is currently closed with local diversions in place and Forensic Collision Investigators are conducting an examination of the scene.
“Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.
“Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam footage) and were travelling in the Slaney Park area between 4:30am and 5am are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Baltinglass Garda Station on 059 6482610, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.”
Local Fine Gael councillor Edward Timmins last night said the entire community was shocked by Milly’s death. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” he added.
Tributes were also paid to Molly on social media last night. One woman said: “Such sad news this morning in Baltinglass. Heartbroken for all the Dempsey family. Rest in peace Molly you will always be remembered. Watch over all your family at this heartbreaking time.”
And a relative said: “Thinking of my niece and nephew on the tragic passing of their cousin and thinking of their aunt Mary Dempsey and uncle Nigel Dempsey on the tragic loss of their daughter Molly.”
And a man said: “Rest easy Molly, sending all my love to the sky.
“Such a cruel world, sending the Dempseys all my condolences on the passing of their baby girl,” while a young woman said: “Fly high Molly hope you get the best bed up there>”
The death of Molly comes as sources say gardaí are increasingly concerned about the number of road deaths in Ireland this year.
There have been 71 so far in 2024, compared to 53 in the same period last year. There were also 66 road collisions so far, compared to 49 in the same period in 2023. There were some 185 fatalities on the roads in 2023 – up 30 on the tolls for 2022.
Meanwhile, gardaí last night revealed that almost 590 people were arrested on suspicion of getting behind the wheel with drink or drugs in their system in the 24 hour period up to yesterday morning.
And they also revealed that some motorists were arrested for the same offences from Thursday to yesterday and some 197 incidents of speeding were detected by speed cameras between Friday, Saturday and yesterday morning.
A senior road Garda yesterday told RTE that speed is a major concern for the force. Inspector Paul Donohue, who leads the roads policing operation in Kilkenny/Carlow Division, said: “Speed is a big contributing factor to a lot of fatalities and serious injury traffic accidents.
“Our members across the division are catching a lot of high speeds, on all roads, national routes, regional roads and motorways.
“People are driving in excess of speed limits and we know from our statistics that speed is a major contributing factor to all accidents. So we’d ask people to slow down and stay within the speed limits.”
And he said mobile phone use was also a problem. He said: “We all know people in society are using mobile phones every minute of the day, walking down the streets and everything.
“What’s happening now is people are thinking they can drive cars and use their mobile phones.
“People reading text messages, trying to text message, reading social media, it’s absolutely crazy behaviour on our roads.
“They’re putting their own lives and other people’s lives in danger. We’d ask people – you just can’t do both, you can’t drive and use your mobile phone.”
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