Frank, who lived alone, had a daily routine. He would go into town, and Talbot Street and North Earl Street were where he would spend time.
So when news filtered out on Thursday afternoon that an elderly man had died when the bus crashed on the pedestrianised street, those who knew him thought: “I hope Frank is OK.”
When Frank had not arrived home by his usual 5pm, his neighbour Caitríona Ní Cassaithe started keeping an eye on his house, as she often did, watching for the light to come on.
“Then after a while I saw a light on and I thought it was a good sign, and I knocked over to see if he was all right, but his nephew answered the door and brought me in and told me what happened,” she told the Irish Independent.
Frank had been born and grew up in East Wall in the capital’s north inner city, and lived on his own.
“He was a gentleman. He had his routine and we’d look out for him. He was a very active man for his age. I think he was 85,” Ms Ní Cassaithe said.
“I’ve known him since I was a baby. He was just a lovely man. He would go on long walks and when the weather would get better in the springtime he would be out in his garden mowing the grass and pruning the roses, and stopping to chat to people going by.
“He would leave in the morning and go into town. Talbot Street and North Earl Street were where he would go. He would drop into the bookies and then go up to a cafe for lunch. He loved Ann’s Bakery.
“He would travel abroad to see his sisters in America, he was very active and independent. Everyone was fond of Frank and we’ll all miss him.
“It’s awful to think of what happened to him.”
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Today’s News in 90 seconds – Friday, February 6
Another neighbour, Caroline McCann, said Mr Daly would be deeply missed.
“He was a good neighbour,” she said. “He was a private person, and loved going into town every day. He was a man of the world really in that he knew a lot about things, he was intelligent.
“We used to look out for him to see he’d be home safe, and his nephews were very good to him.”
Flowers have been left at the scene of the incident in which Mr Daly died and three other people were injured on Thursday afternoon.
The vehicle involved – a Bus Éireann double-decker – has been removed from the scene, and the pedestrianised North Earl Street reopened.
A garda cordon has been cleared but evidence of Thursday’s crash remained – a damaged shop front and traffic cones where a street light was knocked down.
The bus crashed into pedestrians as it came off the junction of Talbot Street and Marlborough Street, on to the beginning of the pedestrianised area.
Two other pedestrians – a man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s – were taken to hospital with injuries described as “non-life-threatening”, although the man’s were additionally described as “serious”.
The driver of the bus, a woman aged in her 50s, was also taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Bus Éireann said it was “deeply saddened” to confirm that there had been a fatality and that several people had been injured after its vehicle was involved in a “serious collision involving pedestrians”.
An increasing Floral tribute left at the scene where Mr Frank Daly, who was in his 80s and from East Wall, died when a Bus Éireann vehicle careered over the road between North Earl Street and Talbot Street at around 12.30pm on Thursday. Photo: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
The company’s chief executive Jean O’Sullivan said: “We are profoundly saddened by this tragic incident.
“On behalf of everyone at Bus Éireann, I extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, and our thoughts are with all those affected at this very difficult time.”
Expressions of condolences were also made by political figures including the President Catherine Connolly and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
A garda spokesperson said a liaison officer had been appointed to the family of the dead man, adding that “investigations are ongoing”.
An Garda Síochána has asked anyone with photographs or video of the incident to make them available to the investigation team at Store Street Garda Station.
Eyewitnesses to the tragic incident on the busy thoroughfare said the sound of the bus crash was “like a bomb going off”.
“We heard a massive bang and the lights flickered,” one witness told the Irish Independent.
She broke down in tears at the sight of the devastation. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” she said.
Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam described the tragedy as “an absolutely heartbreaking day for Dublin”.