Builder and biker killed in weekend road accidents

A construction worker, who was visiting family, was killed in a single-vehicle accident early yesterday.

The man, named locally as Bartley Doohan (58), died following the collision on a minor road near his home village of Curransport, near Gortahork, Co Donegal.

Mr Doohan had been living in Dublin for a number of years but was home to visit relatives in the area when the accident happened between 1.30am and 11.30am yesterday.

Local priest Fr Donnchadh Boyle said Mr Doohan's family is well-known in the area and his tragic death has "cast a pall over the community".

His death marked the second fatal road collision over the holiday period.

Early on Christmas morning a motorcyclist, who was in his 20s, hit a metal rail after coming off the Crumlin Road in Dublin at 3.50am. The incident happened at the junction with Herberton Road.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was later removed to the city morgue for a post-mortem examin- ation.

He was the only person on the motorcycle and no other vehicles were involved.

Meanwhile, a number of mot-orists had a lucky escape after two separate road accidents in the capital within 100 metres of each other.

Tailbacks

Emergency services were at the scene of two crashes on the M1 motorway in Balbriggan yesterday afternoon.

There were no serious injuries.

The two separate incidents happened within a short distance of each other, one close to the Balbriggan exit at junction 6 and the other near the Julianstown exit at Junction 7 at around noon.

The collisions led to severe tailbacks.