{"id":595855,"date":"2026-08-17T09:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/595855\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T09:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:06:10","slug":"we-wont-wait-for-a-death-says-donegal-villagers-in-speeding-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/595855\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We won\u2019t wait for a death\u2019 says Donegal villagers in speeding protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schoolchildren and residents will take to the N56 in Lettermacaward next month in protest over what they describe as dangerous and excessive speeding through the village.<\/p>\n

The community says it is not prepared to \u201cwait for a fatality\u201d before safety measures are introduced along the busy stretch of road.<\/p>\n

The demonstration will take place at 3pm on Wednesday, 2nd September, amid renewed calls for action on a \u20ac95,000 safety scheme that campaigners say was deemed a low priority.<\/p>\n

The upgraded N56 through the village opened in 2017, but the Lettermacaward Development Group says speeding has since become a major fear.<\/p>\n

There is a 60km\/h speed limit through the village. According to the group, a Donegal County Council traffic survey conducted in 2021 recorded vehicle speeds of more than 80km\/h along the route.<\/p>\n

The Development Group first raised the issue with the council\u2019s Roads Department in 2020, suggesting traffic-calming measures and improved signage.<\/p>\n

It says Transport Infrastructure Ireland subsequently prepared a safety scheme, estimated to cost \u20ac95,000, but the proposal was classified as a level-four priority because no fatal or serious collisions had been recorded on the road.<\/p>\n

“There have been a significant number of accidents and \u201cnear misses\u201d in the past years, and it seems only a matter of time before there is a serious or fatal accident,” the campaign group said.<\/p>\n

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“There are two schools; a post office; a housing estate; a shop; a petrol station; a church; a public hall; a GAA pitch; and a popular bar along this stretch of road, and not one safe place to cross the road.”<\/p>\n

The Development Group, with the support of Sinn F\u00e9in Councillor Brian Carr<\/a>, recently commissioned its own signs urging motorists to reduce their speed. These have been erected at the entrances to the village and at other locations along the roadside.<\/p>\n

Local organisations have now agreed to escalate their campaign by holding a public demonstration along the N56.<\/p>\n

Children from both primary schools are expected to join residents and community representatives during the protest.<\/p>\n

The action comes against the backdrop of ten deaths on Donegal\u2019s roads<\/a> since the beginning of 2026, already matching the county\u2019s total for all of last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLettermacaward is not prepared to wait for a fatality before action is taken to reduce the speeds at which vehicles travel through our beautiful village,\u201d the Development Group said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want action immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Schoolchildren and residents will take to the N56 in Lettermacaward next month in protest over what they describe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-595855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}