Bundoran crash car travelling at 120kph

AN INQUEST into the deaths of two Fermanagh young people in a crash in Bundoran four years ago has heard the car they were in had been travelling at 120kph.

Shiva Devine from Belleek and Conall McAleer from Kesh, who were both 20-years-old, were two of six people travelling in a blue Peugeot 306 when it hit a footpath and went into a spin at East End in the Donegal seaside town on August 19, 2018.

Both Ms Devine and Mr McAleer had been socialising with friends on the night, first in Fermanagh then later in Bundoran.

The inquest into their deaths, which was held in Donegal Town last week, also heard five of the six passengers of the car had not been wearing their seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Local woman Rachel Elliott suffered life-changing injuries and has been in a wheelchair since the crash, which took place just after 3am as the car was leaving Bundoran.

In a statement to the inquest, Ms Elliott said she had little memory of the events leading up to the crash.

She said she remembered being in her friend Ms Devine’s home getting ready to go out. They went out in Fermanagh first, then headed to a nightclub in Bundoran.

Ms Elliott said the next thing she remembered was waking up in Beaumount Hospital in Dublin. She said she was devastated when she learned four days later that Ms Devine and Mr McAleer had died.

Two other passengers of the car that night, brothers Tristan and Conor Brennan, did not attend the inquest. Witnesses to the aftermath of the crash gave evidence about arriving on the scene.

One man, Robert Keely, said he had run out after hearing a loud noise and gave first aid to one of the passengers until help arrived. A security man from a nearby nightclub also provided first aid.

Garda Oliver Devenney was one of the officers who attended the scene, stating he spoke with Conor Brennan to establish who had been driving the car. Mr Brennan, who was taken to Sligo University Hospital by ambulance after the crash, told him it had been Joseph Gilroy.

Mr Gilroy, from Lisnaskea, returned to the scene at around 7am with his father and was taken to Ballyshannon Garda Station.

The 24-year-old was later sentenced to just over five years in prison for dangerous driving causing death.

CCTV showed the car leaving Bundoran in the direction of Ballyshannon, and having to negotiate a series of bends. The car, which had an average speed of 118kph in a 50kph zone, then lost control and impacted a wall with steel railings, causing it to rotate and impact with the side of a building.

Coronor Dr Dennis McCauley said it had been a chain of events that would have a long lasting impact on all involved. He paid his condolences to the Devine and McAleer families, and all those affected. Dr McCauley also thanked those who helped and provided aid on the night, and noted Mr Devine and Mr McAleer’s injuries had been too serious to be remedied.