'Drivers have ultimate responsibility for road safety' - retiring Mayo coroner

On his final day today as Coroner for the District of Mayo, Pat O’Connor emphasised that drivers of motor vehicles have the ultimate responsibility for road safety.

Mr. O’Connor will this week reach the stipulated mandatory age for retirement in the coronial service.

His successor has yet to be decided upon by the Department of Justice.

In a farewell address as coroner at Swinford Courthouse, Mr. O’Connor pointed to what he described as “a sad irony” - the fact that although roads in the county have improved greatly in the past thirty years yet there are more accidents happening which lead to great grief and devastation.

“Ultimately it is the responsibility of the drivers to ensure that they travel safely in the interests of other road users and themselves

“There needs to be a greater awareness by those who are driving motor vehicles of the great danger they can encounter on the roads,” he stated.

Better road markings and signage would help, the coroner suggested.

Mr. O’Connor’s career in the coronial service spanned 46 years in total.

In his many years of service he conducted 1,800 inquests, some of them with a jury.

Today he expressed special gratitude to the members of An Garda Siochana “whose dedication and public service should always be understood by the community."

Coronial service has been traditional in the O’Connor family.

Pat’s grandfather, also Pat, was solicitor and coroner for east Mayo from 1901 to 1942.

Pat’s late father Val O’Connor served as the Coroner for East Mayo and his aunt, Moya, was the deputy coroner from 1942 until 1978.

At the conclusion of today’s inquest list, glowing tributes were paid by a host of speakers in Swinford Courthouse to Mr. O’Connor for the compassionate and efficient manner in which he has dealt with inquests in his jurisdiction over the decades.