Promising Rugby Player Knocked Down By Off-Duty Garda

The man who died after being knocked-down in the early hours of Sunday was hit by an off-duty garda, it has emerged.

Jack Whelan, 23, who has been described as a promising young rugby player, was struck on the Clontarf Road in Dublin at around 6.30am.

It is understood the officer was returning home from work and the incident is being treated as an accident. However, the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) has confirmed an investigation has been launched.

Yesterday morning, gardai from the traffic corps carried out extensive testing at the scene of the crash, including braking distance testing used to determine the speed of vehicles involved in accidents.

Shortly after the incident, a Gardaí spokesman said: "Garda are investigating a fatal road traffic collision on Clontarf Road in Dublin. A pedestrian in his 20's was fatally injured when he was struck by a car, the man died a short time later at the Mater Hospital."

Mr Whelan was one of three men killed in separate road accidents over the Easter weekend. On Sunday a 24-year-old man driving a suspected stolen car was killed when it crashed at a roundabout in west Dublin. On Saturday evening 54-year-old Jim Ahearn of Kilrush, Co Clare died when his car struck a tree at Tullabrack, Cooraclar.

(DW/BMcC)