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EXCESSIVE speed and black ice are understood to have been the cause of the unusual number of serious car accidents on the country's newest motorway section.
Concerns had been raised by local politicians that there may have been design flaws with a section of the new road, which opened just before Christmas. On a single day earlier this month, there were five single-vehicle crashes on the 28-kilometre stretch of the M9 between Castledermot and Ballitore in Co Kildare.
Those crashes followed a fatal accident on the road when 22-year-old James Scully was killed en route to Dublin Airport in February.
It happened a week after another smash on the road when four people were hospitalised following a multi-vehicle accident on the opposite side of the carriageway.
However, the National Roads Authority said there were no particular safety issues with the road and that no review of its design would be necessary.
A spokesman said: "There are no unique elements contained in the design of the new M9 [Kilcullen to Carlow]. The road has been designed in line with the design manual for roads and bridges."
It is understood meetings have since taken place between gardaí, local politicians and the authorities responsible for the roads.
Garda sources said excessive speed had been the cause of the accidents and have deemed the road safe.
Local councillor Richard Daly said: "We did not get the opportunity to test this. You are talking about a massive project and as local councillors we were given less than 10 days' notice of its opening. A lead-in time to ensure that everything was kosher would have been very useful.
"The first time they looked at the road was when it was in their charge. We were heading into very inclement weather, we were responsible for gritting it."
A spokesman for Kildare County Council said: "The road is built in accordance with good design standards. We are certainly not aware of any fault with the motorway.
"There have been some accidents on that particular road and obviously our sympathies go to anybody who has either been injured or bereaved on it."
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This really is the limit. A concerted effort was made by these "local politicans" to delay the opening of this stretch of the M9 until after Christmas 2009. No doubt the call for a delay had nothing to do with the desire of local businesses to squeeze a last few euro out of passing motorists using the old route. Now they add to the misery of accident victims and their families with spurious claims about design flaws.