Holy cow, that was close... car steers clear of flying bullock on motorway

A motorist had a near miss on the M6 this morning.

Meath GAA County Board secretary Ciarán Flynn was driving on the motorway just outside Rochfortbridge early this morning when he had to take swift evasive action to avoid hitting a bullock that had jumped the median on the M6 into westbound traffic.

Ciarán, a teacher in St Ciarán's CS, Kells, was on his way to a training day in Ballinsloe, when the incident occurred.

An accident on the eastbound side of the motorway led to cattle being on the road.

"I could see the flashing lights on the road up ahead and I had just blessed myself because I thought it was an accident and said a little prayer that no one was hurt.

"Then it was clear that there were cattle on the road on the other side of the median and a man was on the road waving us down, so I reduced my speed.

"The last thing I expected was for one of them to jump the median, so when it did, it was a real scary moment, but thankfully my reactions kicked in.

"I play a bit in goals for Dunsany, so thankfully my reaction speed would be fairly ok and I was able to swerve out of the way and avoid a collision.

"My heart was in my mouth for a few seconds, but when I glanced in the rear view mirror I could see that the bullock was still ok, so thankfully no one behind me hit him either.

"It really was lucky. The driving conditions weren't great, but thankfully I had slowed down and was able to avoid what could have been a nasty situation."

Ciarán was able to move on and get to Ballinasloe.