A minute’s silence was observed at a meeting of Donegal County Council today in memory of Kacper Dudek who tragically died during Storm Éowyn.
The 20-year-old Lifford resident, who was a staff member at ZEUS Industrial Products, was returning home from his work in Letterkenny on Friday morning when his car was struck by a falling tree.
Donegal County Councillors and members of the council executive stood in silence this afternoon to mark the tragic event.
The fatal crash occurred on the N14 near Raphoe at around 5.30am on the morning of 25th January, prior to the red warning associated with Storm Éowyn.
The N14 road at Tullyrap will remain closed this week until further notice.
A tribute from ZEUS Industrial Products said that Kacper had been a valued team member since he joined the plant in May 2024.
In light of the incident, Independent Councillor Michael McBride has called for a survey to be completed on all roadside trees on the N14 Lifford-Letterkenny road.
Speaking to the council today, Cllr McBride expressed his condolences to Mr Dudek’s family and said: “These big trees alongside the road are something we need to be looking at.
“Looking at the trees, they are surrounded with ivy everywhere. The ivy will end up killing all the trees. We know we have a problem with ash trees that are rotten, I am told it’s probably going to affect other species.
“We need to take a look at these trees, some need to be taken down, they are in such bad shape they’ll not be standing much longer anyway. That is something we should be doing proactively rather than waiting until they fall.”
