Message on World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims 2024
Date: Sun 17th Nov, 2024 | 14:45
"On this solemn World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, may I convey my deepest sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones due to fatal collisions and accidents on Ireland’s roads.
The latest sobering figures from the Road Safety Authority indicate that a total of 753 people were killed on Irish roads over the five year period between 2019 and 2023.
Behind each of those figures is the lost potential and possibilities of a precious life, and the grief and pain of those parents, spouses, sons, daughters or siblings left behind, whose own lives are changed irrevocably.
Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, may I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Irish Road Victims Association for their generosity and commitment, for their tireless advocacy, solidarity and support for those whose lives have been darkened by fatal road traffic accidents. We are all so grateful for your vital efforts.
As we mark this World Day of Remembrance, pausing to honour the memory of those whose lives have been tragically cut short on our roads, let each of us consider our shared responsibility to make our roads safer, of how we can make a positive change, in increasing awareness of the responsibility we all have when using the roads and of the measures which can be taken to stop these untimely and tragic deaths from occurring.
Let us all work together towards a zero-fatality future on our roads so that no family has to mourn the loss of a loved one from a road traffic collision, demonstrating the solidarity required to deliver this future, with a shared urgency and determination.
Mo bhuíochas libh is gach dea guí don todchaí.
Beir beannacht."