A NURSE killed in a three-car hit-and-run collision was described by her former football coach as a “dedicated carer” who “always had a quiet smile for you”.
Aine O’Reilly, 30s, was driving to work at after-hours GP service Shannondoc in Limerick City when her car was struck by a hit and run driver this past Friday night (February 13).
Ms O’Reilly died instantly in the collision, which occurred on the N24, a short distance from her family home at Pallasgreen.
The male driver of the car that collided with Ms O’Reilly’s car fled the scene. Gardaí said they were following “a definite line of enquiry” in respect of the motorist.
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A man who was driving a third car, also caught up in the collision, was treated at University Hospital Limerick for non-life-threatening injuries.
Ms O’Reilly followed her parents footsteps into the public service, her father, Eugene, a retired Garda, and her mother, Anne, a retired teacher. She was dedicated to helping others through her work, her former football coach, Noreen Stokes, said.
“It is a huge shock, there is a huge cloud over the community. Aine was a young lady going to do her job in a caring profession as a nurse, and for her life to be cut down like that is a serous tragedy,” said Ms Stokes, a local teacher and elected member of Limerick City and County Council.
“Aine’s family are a very quiet, unassuming family. She was the only girl, her father is a retired Garda, her mother is a retired teacher. I would have know Aine from when I taught the local underage girls football team.”
Paying tribute to Ms O’Reilly, Cllr Stokes said: “Aine always came across as a very quiet and refined lady, and obviously with the profession that she took on, those qualities came out. She went into a profession to care and look after people to the best of her ability.”
“Any time I ever met her in her adult years she always had a quiet smile, a smile of recognition, on her face.”
Ms O’Reilly had three brothers, one of whom was to make the heartbreaking journey from Dubai to Pallasgreen for her funeral, Ms Stokes said.
“There’s a lot of questions to be asked and lots of answers to be found, it’s such a shock for any Garda to come to their door and tell them that their daughter has been killed. I spoke to Aine’s father but I cannot even think how the family are feeling.
“The family played key roles in the community and the community will do its best to try to support them throughout and beyond this awful tragedy.”
Ms Stokes said that “Aine was young lady who left her family to go to work, like many of us do, but we do expect to come home.”
On Saturday, Gardaí appealed for witnesses and dashcam footage relating to the fatal collision.
Releasing a statement this Sunday, Gardaí said they were “following a definite line” of enquiry, and thanked the public for their assistance.
“Investigations are ongoing,” Gardaí said.