A youth who was riding a horse bareback on the Dublin dual carriageway where an articulated lor ry crashed into a coach carrying more than 70 schoolboys has come forward to the Garda.
The gardai are reconstructing the events surrounding the potentially disastrous crash from eyewitness evidence, including an account by the youth, who is from Ballyfermot. It is understood the eyewitness reconstruction will concentrate on the extent to which the horse on the carriageway contributed to the accident and to what extent the absence of seat belts on the coach contributed to injuries.
Road traffic transport regulations in the State do not require the wearing of seat belts on coa ches. There are also provisions allowing three children to sit on two seats without seat belts. The regulations state only that seat belts should be worn where available.
The issue of wandering horses was raised in the Dail yesterday by a number of deputies who criticised certain local authorities for failing to implement the Control of Horses Act.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the legislation was, by and large, being implemented, but there were major problems relating to resources and the micro-tagging of horses.
However, Dublin Corporation has confirmed that despite having by-laws in operation for two months, it has received no applications for licences to date. Meanwhile, South Dublin County Council has said it intends to enforce its by-laws from next week.
All but three of the 48 students injured in the crash have been discharged from hospital. Two re main comfortable in James Con nolly Memorial Hospital in Blan chardstown, and one is stable in St James's Hospital.
Meanwhile, the driver of the small van involved in the accident said his vehicle - and not the school bus - took the full force of the lorry.
Mr Finbar Clarke, from Castle town-Geoghegan, Co Westmeath, said: "I saw the lorry coming on the other side of the road and star ted to break. I'd nearly stopped when the lorry struck the front of the van.
"It tore the engine off like you'd tear a piece of paper in half. The front of the lorry then hit the bus broadside and drove it across the hard shoulder on to the bank.
"The impact changed the direction of the lorry. If we hadn't have been struck first the bus would have been struck sideways at 45 degrees instead of at right angles."
Mr Clarke suffered bruising and torn ligaments in his ankle. The passenger in his van was recovering yesterday in St James's Hospital with two broken ankles, a bro ken pelvis and internal bleeding.
Mr Clarke added that he did not see a horse on the road at the time of the accident.
Earlier yesterday, the driver of the school coach, Mr Peter O'Bri en, also said he did not see a horse on the road. Speaking to RTE, Mr O'Brien played down his role in averting a tragedy. He said by steering the coach clear of the lorry, he did "what anybody would do in a situation - you just react to the best of your ability".
However, Mr Paddy Cole, a Dublin Corporation worker whose car was involved in the accident, said a boy, aged "no more than 10 or 12", had been riding a horse on the road.
"He was heading off, that's all I saw. The horse seemed to be in panic. There were a lot of cars and a lot of panic at that stage," Mr Cole told RTE.
He added that he had seen hor ses on a number of occasions on the bypass. In one instance, he saw at least four un-supervised horses crossing the road.
Mr Cole also told how his car was spun around after hitting the lorry cab. He said he was fortunate that the bus, which was dri ven on to the embankment, did not topple down on to his car.
"The kids were all screaming and shouting. They were all shouting to get out." Editorial comment: page 15