THERE WAS chaos in Enniscorthy yet again last Wednesday evening as yet another woman was seriously injured after being knocked down just off the slip road from Abbey Square onto Abbey Quay. This is the second incident of this nature that has happened at this spot in a three week period.

Emergency services were immediately called to the scene after the middle aged woman was struck by a truck at around 5 p.m. on Wednesday evening, causing fairly serious injuries. It is believed that she was coming around on the footpath to the quay when the incident occurred.

An ambulance was called for straight away and gardaí also arrived at the scene to direct and divert traffic. The woman was immediately rushed to hospital and was later taken to Dublin where she was operated on. Her condition was described as serious but stable.

Due to it being peak time for traffic, there significant tailbacks coming both from the Castle Hill and Mill Park Road sides and traffic was reported to be at a standstill right out the N11 past Roadstone entering the town. The road remained closed off overnight while a technical examination took place.

This is the second incident which has taken place at almost exactly the same point in the road in recent weeks. On November 3 an elderly woman was struck by a tractor and trailer and was also rushed to hospital where she was said to be in serious condition. While she did survive the incident, she is still recovering in hospital in Dublin.

Cllr James Browne, who has his offices around the corner from where the incident took place, says that the council have tried on numerous occassions to make the quays safer, but to no avail.

“We’ve had concerns in relation to both sides of the quay for years,” he said. “It’s something that has been raised consistently for years. The problem is that the quay is part of the N11 and is controlled by the NRA. We one pedestrian crossing, or traffic lights, on Abbey Quay and we had to fight tooth and nail for it. It’s my view that the quays aren’t safe and I will be raising it again with the council and the NRA.”

One possible solution to the problem would be to put railings along the side of the footpath coming from Abbey Square down onto Abbey Quay and Cllr Browne says he’ll be raising the issue further with the council.

“What I’ll be calling for is for the engineer to carry out a full safety audit and see what can be done.”

The scene after a woman was struck by a truck last Wednesday evening.