Two motorcycle riders from Northern Ireland were killed and three others injured in a pile-up at the North Monaghan 250 CC road race at the Glaslough circuit in Co Monaghan, yesterday. The public road circuit, regarded as one of the best in Ireland, is five miles from Monaghan town.
Andrew McLean (24), from Coleraine, Co Derry, died en route by helicopter to the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast at 5 p.m. He had suffered fatal injuries when he lost control of his motorcycle shortly after 2 p.m. going into a bend during the first lap of the race, taking four other riders with him.
Gary Dynes (35) from Maralin, Moira, Co Down, died during an operation in Craigavon area hospital at 7 p.m. last night. A third rider, Denis McCullough (33) from Lisburn, Co Antrim, suffered head injuries and fractured ribs. He was said to be seriously ill at Craigavon hospital.
Also injured were Darren Lindsay who sustained bruises and Steven Thompson, who suffered shock. Both men, who are from Co Antrim, were said to be in a stable condition at Craigavon Hospital.
A Garda spokesman said: "One of the motorcyclists crashed when going around a sharp bend on the circuit and was critically injured. When he fell some of the other riders crashed into him. This resulted in him being seriously injured."
Eighteen riders were taking part in the race at the Glaslough meeting, which first took place in 1996. Among last year's winners at the circuit was the five times world champion motorcyclist Joey Dunlop. He was killed during a race in Estonia last month. Mr Dynes was a winner in the 250cc category at Glaslough in 1997 while Mr McCullough won both the 125cc and 250cc categories in 1996.
Yesterday's meeting was attended by an estimated 15,000 people. Normally each race involves 10 laps of a 2.6 mile circuit. The meeting was called off immediately after the accident yesterday.
Mr Paul Gilliland, assistant clerk of the course, told The Irish Times late last night there was deep shock in the North Monaghan Club, which hosted the race. Their thoughts were with the families of the dead and injured men, he said.
He recalled that there had been some accidents at the Glaslough circuit before but there had been no fatalities previously. Up to £50,000 had been spent on safety features there in recent years and he recalled that yesterday "even the riders themselves had commented on how well it looked".
Conditions yesterday had been "very good" for racing but it seemed the first rider lost control and the others got dragged in, he said. Mr Dynes was an active member of the North Monaghan Club as was his father Billy before him, he said.
"They are always at our meetings and always made good input, even from the safety standpoint", he said. Gary however was also aware of the risks in the sport." Mr Dynes leaves a wife and two children.
"For now our thoughts are with them," Mr Gilliland said.
Responding to a suggestion that motorcycle racing was a particularly dangerous sport, he agreed. "It is early yet, but I think we are just going to have to sit down and think seriously about the whole thing."