THE Road Safety Authority has identified Donegal as one of the worst hit counties in Ireland for fatalities.
The State agency’s statistics show that Donegal has a disproportionate number of road deaths compared to its population size.
RSA spokesperson David Martin warned that Donegal has experienced a “disproportionately high number of fatalities”.
Some 69 collisions in the county between 2016 and 2024 resulted in at least one death, while there were 451 non-fatal collisions.
The data has been provided by An Garda Siochana to the Road Safety Authority (RSA) for a new interactive map that highlights road fatalities across Ireland.
Every collision’s location, date and times is logged up until 2024 when Donegal was one of four counties with the highest number of fatalities.
There were 17 road deaths in Donegal that year, with similar figures for, Cork (19), Dublin (23), and Mayo (19), according to the figures.
Latest Garda figures for this year show there have been 66 deaths on Irish roads – which is five more compared to the same period in 2025.
Those 66 deaths include seven people who were killed on Donegal’s roads this year, including a heartbreaking dark period recently when three young lives were lost in two separate crashes in the county over May 16 and 17.
They were Leon Shovlin (27), Caoilan Bushe (30), and Ashlea Harkin (25).
The remains of Ashlea Harkin are carried by mourners at his service in Muff, Co Donegal.
The RSA is concerned that road deaths increased dramatically in 2025, with 190 people killed in 179 fatal collisions, marking the highest number of fatalities on roads since 2014.
Its spokesperson Mr Martin warned: “Due to their high populations, Dublin and Cork suffer a high number of road fatalities every year.
“However, less densely populated counties, such as Mayo and Donegal, experience disproportionately high numbers of fatalities.”
He said of the interactive map: “You’re seeing a disproportionate number of young male drivers on rural roads and that comes through in the map.
“Young lads in their 20s, typically driving, not on dual carriageways, but sort of rural roads and we’re seeing way too many of those lads getting killed.”
He added: “They can’t imagine that anything could possibly happen to them. They have a false sense of how good they are on the roads, coupled with this male sense of invincibility.”
The RSA has launched a new interactive map to highlight road deaths across Ireland.
The RSA was set up 20 years ago under Road Safety Authority Act 2006 as a new State agency to promote road safety and reduce traffic collisions in Ireland.
Its new interactive map is available on the rsa.ie website.