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FOUR PEOPLE HAVE been hospitalised, three with serious injuries, following separate crashes in Co Clare.
Emergency services from three counties responded to incidents involving a total of five vehicles on the M18 at Dromoland at around 10.30pm last night.
The crashes, which occurred following a heavy downpour of hailstone, resulted in both sides of the motorway being closed.
Gardaí responded to the scene followed by a number of National Ambulance Service resources from Limerick and Clare as well as units of Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis and Shannon stations.
Additional support was requested from Galway Fire and Rescue Service who dispatched two units from Gort station.
Ambulance paramedics assessed a number of people at the scene before two people, a woman and a man, were taken to University Hospital Limerick for further treatment.
The collisions happened at the same time and location and across all four lanes of the motorway about 500m south of the Dromoland interchange.
Three vehicles lost control and crashed in the southbound lanes of the M18 while on the other side of the motorway, two more cars crashed.
It’s understood that a man who had gotten out of one of the cars was then struck by another car travelling in the same direction.
The man is believed to have suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The southbound lanes of the motorway were reopened about an hour after the collisions occurred.
The northbound lanes remained closed however for a further hour while emergency services and Traffic Infrastructure Ireland (TII) motorway crews cleared debris from the road and the vehicles were safely recovered.
Arrangements were also made to have the motorway gritted as temperatures dropped and further wintry showers were expected.
Meanwhile, soon after the motorway incident had been cleared, emergency services were mobilised to a serious road traffic collision outskirts of Ennis.
Multiple Garda units responded to the scene along with two ambulances and a rapid response advanced paramedic unit.
Fire crews from Clare County Fire and Rescue Service from Ennis and Shannon stations also responded to the scene.
Two men were seriously injured in the two-car head-on collision which happened shortly before 1.00am on the main N68 Ennis to Kilrush road at Kilmorane. One of the vehicles was a taxi however the driver wasn’t carrying a fare at the time.
It’s understood the driver of the second car was also travelling alone. Fire crews had to use specialist cutting equipment to help release one of the drivers from the wreckage of his vehicle. Both men were taken by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.
Gardaí at Ennis are appealing to anyone who witnessed either incident to contact them. Gardaí are also asking anyone with dashcam footage to make it available. Ennis Garda Station can be contacted on 065 6848100.
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Anyone read the Guardian today, reporting on how penalty points were squashed for the editor of the Irish Independent, they are questioning the integrity of Irish journalists and news outlets for not asking questions.
I expected the journal to at least have something on it.
Thats what has the country Ducked,The journalist are just staying stum to help secure their future employment.Meanwhile the people suffer without a voice.
And the one journalist who wanted to continue asking questions about penalty points got fired by guess who- the same editor who had penalty points quashed, this country is so full of corruption it really is sickening.
There is an inner circle of politicians, the media and certain higher professionals that run this country as they like and the rest of us are mere minions who must do as we are told.
Are we really looking for integrity when we speak about journalists? The least they could’ve done was give the job to someone gook lookling
keep up the good work pat of letting us know that this is not a democracy also another beaut heading to RTE to fill us with pure crap that they throw at us.
I heard Pat Kenny has moved to Newstalk.
No, you’re kidding me, when? Why have I never seen that reported on the journal? Seems very odd that they never saturate their pages with stories about RTE or radio stations owned by multi billionaires.
I’m sure there was an fair and open candidate search for this taxpayer sponsored job
In other news:
My cats breath smells like cat food.
Why is this news?
Hi Angela,
It is filed in the ‘Media’ Section of Business Etc.
Thanks
Sinéad
No pleasing some Sinead :-)
I can see that, admittedly my eyesight isn’t great but I’m not blind. Does ‘The Journal’ source these ‘Media’ stories or do the individuals involved send their own press release in?
Angela
Like a number of reports on Journal and Sport.ie, the original question still remains. Why is this news? Or do you just regurgitate press released from RTE?
Hi Mick, Angela,
This wasn’t press-released by RTÉ but as we have a ‘Media’ section in our Business Etc vertical, it would then make sense to report on major recruitment decisions at Ireland’s public service broadcaster.
Also, there’s loads of other news here if you want to read something else: http://www.thejournal.ie/
Cheers
Sinéad
News Editor
Me thinks she will make RTE alot easier to watch while listening to the BS the TDs are spouting. Yup alot more pleasing on the eye…
A real journalist would not join RTE particularly the political department. might as well work for the Fine Gael press office you will be repeating the same sound bites either way. She looks nice though maybe she will rebel and ask a government minister a real question for a change.
Tough crowd tonight Sinéad.
Why is this tough cheeky bums!
Or some such malarkey.
What defines news? Why’d you click on the article? Go get laid, you’ll find you’re less inclined to nitpic then.
When I grow up I want to be a pol coll
If the Journal’s reporting pisses people off so much, why not go somewhere else for news?
@davidmurphyRTE, too good a political correspondent to loose to Washington. Needed at home.
Erm, David Murphy isn’t a Political Correspondent, he’s Business Editor. If you mean David McCullagh or David Davin-Power, you clearly haven’t read the article!
Touchy, touchy Donal! This weather is getting to me too.
Too many Davids.
Jobs for the boys/girls in RTE, can they ever advertise for some new blood ???
Wouldn’t mind corresponding with her if you know what I mean wink wink
Who?
“Reached out” did he? I thought that was only something the Democrats did to the Republicans
I think they should send Robert Shortt back there, after all he was good at it last time and is the person they chose to send in the interim. Haven’t seen David Murphy report on anything other than Business so hard to judge if he’d be any good.
Politics just got even better!
Good on the eyes as well very important.
Well done David you weren’t overlooked despite wearing shorts whilst reporting outside the dail during our hot summer
Ah sure im sure she will do well as a government media propegandist
RTEs pic makes it look like the Bar lost another one…
have your say