Man dies, Galway footballer injured, in Galway crash
By John Fallon
A man has died and two others have been injured, including a Galway footballer, in a car accident in County Galway.
The accident, which happened at 2.20am this morning at Cloonmore on the N17 outside Tuam, claimed the life of a 55-year-old Co Galway man and injured 22-year-old All-Star nominee Shane Walsh.
The 55-year-old man who died in the accident was also very involved in the GAA and is well-known in the north Galway area where he worked as a taxi driver.
Galway star forward Walsh is said to have suffered a suspected broken finger and wrist and is a major doubt for Galway ahead of their Connacht semi-final showdown with Mayo next weekend.
Walsh was taken to University College Hospital along with the 20-year old passenger who was in the car in which the driver died.
The extent of the injuries suffered by Walsh are expected to be known on Monday but it is feared he will be out of football for the summer.
Walsh, a former All-Ireland U-21 winner, was also nominated for Young Player of the Year last season and produced one of the highlights of the summer with an audacious point against Tipperary in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
He had starred for Galway in a challenge match against Cork in Gort earlier on Friday evening.
The chairman of Galway football committee, Tadhg O Conghaile, said the sympathy of the GAA community was with the family of the deceased man and both who were injured.
“It is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased man. He was very involved in the GAA himself. It's dreadful," he said.
“Our thoughts are also with Shane and the other person injured in the accident and hopefully they will make a swift and full recovery."
