Arrests made for drink and drug driving in Mayo following Bank Holiday crackdown

There were 11 drink and drug driving arrests in Mayo during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Checkpoints were in place at a number of locations across the county over the course of the weekend.

The arrests came days after the county was left stunned by two fatal road traffic accidents.

Vikaris Gudaitis (17) of Tavrane, Kilkelly, was struck by a vehicle and killed in the townland of Barnacarroll, Claremorris, at around 9.20pm on Saturday night March 30.

Una Bowden (47) and her two daughters, Ciara (14) and Saoirse (nine), died when their car was involved in a collision with a truck on the N17 near Claremorris on March 26.

Nationwide, a total of 177 people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs over the course of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

In an update on their road safety enforcement operation, under way over the Easter period from last Thursday up to Monday morning, gardaí say they continue to see extremely dangerous driving behaviour on the roads, which must be stopped.

More than 5,000 roadside drug and alcohol tests were carried out during the campaign and over a quarter of arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant occurred between the hours of 8am and 2pm.

Of the 177 arrests, 36 came within the last 24 hours of the garda operation.

Over the course of the weekend, more than 2,600 motorists were detected speeding on Irish roads.