The Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority has paid tribute to all those who battled for years to ban drink driving.
Moyagh Murdock says there is overwhelming support for the controversial Road Traffic Bill which was finally passed by the Dáil yesterday after months of delay.
She says the bill was based on facts and evidence and it was a big regret that people had been killed or injured during the long delay in getting it to this stage.
"People who championed it personally, the likes of Noel Clancy and Donna Price and the Irish Road Victims Association...They all have put so much of their own personal time and commitment into getting the bill across the line," said Ms Murdock.
"There were appealing and they are pleading with these small number of opposition TDs, it didn't seem to make any difference but thankfully, in the end, the result was given."
Donna Price lost her son Darren in a traffic collision on his way to college a decade ago - she has been campaigning for change ever since.
"We are relieved. We sat through the Dáil debates over the last number of months, we've listened to the delaying tactics and philibustering on the part of a number of rural TDs," said Ms Price.
"They were crying out for rural Ireland to be allowed to have a different law to the rest of us for various reasons.
"But the reality is that 80% or more of the deaths are taking place on rural roads."
Chief superintendent Aidan Reid, chief executive of RSA Moyagh Murdock, Minister Shane Ross and Donna Price at Dublin Castle after controversial road traffic legislation was passed in the Dáil. Pic: Cate McCurry/PA Wire
