Search

10 Oct 2025

'How did it happen?' Parents of teen killed in crash hit out at council as they seek answers

'One small cone and she is with us today, and that is a little too much for us to cope with,' says Michael English, whose daughter, 18-year-old Bronagh English, died in a road traffic accident last April

'How did it happen?' Parents of teen killed in crash hit out at council as they seek answers

Bereaved father Michael English at Kilmoyler Bridge where his daughter Bronagh (INSET) died in a road traffic accident last April. Picture: Maria Taylor

The bereaved Tipperary parents of 18-year-old Bronagh English, who died in a road traffic accident last April, said that they will be forever haunted by the belief that their daughter should be alive today.

They believe their daughter Bronagh would be alive if measures had been taken to improve the condition of the road at Kilmoyler and if signage to warn of the dangers of that black spot had been in place.

READ NEXT: Tipperary road traffic accident victim radiated joy and love mourners are told

The accident happened as Bronagh was travelling alone, returning home after dropping a friend off at their house, on Thursday, April 24, earlier this year, shortly after 10pm.

The English family is now on a mission to get answers as to why the road was left in such a poor condition despite the series of accidents on that road, why there were no warning signs erected given the level of danger involved, and why a broken wall on the bridge had not been fixed.

An independent engineer's report carried out after the accident has listed seven critical items concerning the road at Kilmoyler Bridge.

"If any one of those seven had been solved by Tipperary County Council, our daughter would be with us. It would have been a minor incident; she could have had a broken leg or something.

READ NEXT: Councillors pass vote of sympathy to family of Tipperary student who died in car accident

"It would have been a very minor incident if any of those seven were in place.

"One cone sitting on the broken wall would indicate it was a 90-degree turn and show you had to slow down. We need to understand how it happened, how it got left for so long.

"There have been multiple accidents on that stretch of road; it is a black spot," said her father, Michael.

"How can this exist in this day and age? This is Third World stuff," said Michael English.

READ NEXT: RIP: Tributes paid as teenager who died in Tipperary collision is named

The discovery process they had embarked upon was needed to find answers, said Michael.

They also wanted to find out whether local public representatives had highlighted the road after the various accidents at the bridge and what was done in response.

They wanted to know why there were no signs indicating there was a 90-degree turn, there were no slow down signs, and no indication there was a yield junction, no indication of the speed limit and why was there a 60km/h speed limit in place when it should have been half that, and all on a stretch of road coming up to a bridge and why was the wall on the bridge not fixed.

"To compound matters, there was no wall on the bridge, there was a step on the bridge, which effectively acted as a ramp that ramped her into the river.

"Bronagh had no assistance when she came to that right turn, and for the previous 1km, there was no signage in the approach to the bridge. The bridge was invisible to her," said Michael.

READ NEXT: Teenager killed in Tipperary crash is named

"While we are grieving parents, and I get that completely, there are just far too many faults on this bridge, I have never seen anything like it.

"How can this exist in 2025 in a country like Ireland, it is fine saying these are lesser roads, but these things are not acceptable at any level," said Michael.

"This excuse about it being a minor road is not acceptable to me and Danielle under any circumstances. A minor road or not, these things should not be left like that," he said.

Michael said that Bronagh had never driven on that road before and that nearby CCTV cameras had shown that her speed was in order.

It was raining that night, and visibility was poor.

He said that Bronagh had a full licence and was a very competent driver.

"We have a small farm at home, and she learned a lot at home. Then we took her out to instructors; she was driving a good car that was only two and a half years old," he said.

Her father said that tests had shown there was no alcohol or drugs in her system.

"How did this bridge get missed? Why had the county council neglected this? They started fixing it and tidying it up a few weeks after the accident.

"Why was this left behind, and how did it happen to Bronagh? One small cone and she is with us today, and that is a little too much for us to cope with," he said.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.