Clonskeagh Parish RCN:20016166

A Few Words From Fr Joe……

When I saw the location where Garda Kevin Flatley was killed on Sunday it brought back a very clear memory from my days as a young driver. I had borrowed my mother’s car during the holidays for a spin down to Dublin for a friend’s birthday party. The drive from Annalong to Dublin was about two and a half hours at that time. The traffic was often heavy and getting past slow moving tractors, lorries or Sunday drivers was challenging. That is until you reached the dual carriage way at Lissenhall, suddenly there was open road, a long straight stretch, and naturally there was an inclination to put the foot down. That was exactly what I was doing when up ahead I saw the blue lights flashing, and a Garda step out with his hand raised. I pulled in, opened the window and for the first time had that humbling conversation about speed, too fast, the instruction to slow down, and then to my great relief, ah go on now. So, I got off, no ticket, no awkward conversation with my parents, (I still haven’t told them!) but I’ve never forgotten the feeling of being caught, the stern lecture from the Garda and relief of getting off lightly.

In light of the tragic events at that exact spot on Sunday, the Garda Commissioner has asked all drivers for a reset. He pointed to four areas of driver behaviour for us all to take responsibility for, drink or drug driving, the wearing of seatbelts, our speed and distracted driving by using a mobile. I’m not sure what percentage of drivers are guilty of any of these offences, but it’s easy to note that we are not generally very observant of speed limits, so definitely room for improvement there. As for being distracted by the mobile phone that seems to be a reality for a large percentage of drivers. We’ve all seen the car stationary in traffic, while the cars in front have moved on, and the driver is absorbed with something on the phone.

This call from the Commissioner may touch into our sense of civic responsibility, our moral awareness and if we make changes might actually save lives. It is astonishing that Garda Flatley was the 61st person to die on Irish roads this year. May he rest in peace.

Fr Joe Mullan - Moderator of Clonskeagh, Kilmacud & Mount Merrion Parishes