Editing Slane (section)

===Slane Bridge===
[[File:SlaneBridgebyJimmyHarris.jpg|thumb|left|The hill and dangerous bend approaching Slane bridge.]]
[[File:Francis Ledwidge memorial - geograph.org.uk - 455605.jpg|thumb|left|225px| Memorial plaque on Slane bridge commemorating poet, [[Irish Volunteers|Irish]] and [[National Volunteers]] member, [[Francis Ledwidge]], who was to serve and die in [[World War I]].]]
[[File:Slane - Baile Shláine.jpg|alt=Signposts showing the entry to Slane, as well as the 30km/h speed limit|thumb|Road signposts on the N2 as northbound traffic enters Slane from [[Ashbourne, County Meath|Ashbourne]]. A 30 km/h speed limit has been adopted in Slane since 2009 in an effort to prevent further collisions. The signs are located nearly a kilometre from the notorious black spot.]]
The N2 crosses the River Boyne south of the village. The road descends a steep hill from the village and makes an almost ninety-degree turn onto the 14th-century bridge.<ref name="Trench" /> This bend was the scene of at least 22 fatalities in the late 20th century.<ref name="Keogh">{{cite news | last=Keogh | first=Elaine | url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2004/0724/4048233660HM2SLANE.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127013415/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2004/0724/4048233660HM2SLANE.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 January 2013 | title=Councillor angered at lack of progress on Slane bypass | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=4 July 2004 | access-date=20 May 2006 }}</ref> As you climb the hill towards Slane village the wall on the right-hand side of the road has a number of small white crosses, each representing a death on this stretch of road. Most of the crashes have involved [[heavy goods vehicles]] which are not able to slow down sufficiently to make the sharp bend after picking up speed on the hill. [[Meath County Council]] and the [[National Roads Authority]] have installed a number of [[traffic calming]] measures over the years in an attempt to make the bend onto the bridge safer. These include separate traffic signals for heavy goods vehicles and cars, as well as a [[Road speed limits in the Republic of Ireland|30km/h speed limit]] throughout the village.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crowley|first=Sorcha|title=New traffic controls for Slane black spot|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/new-traffic-controls-for-slane-black-spot-1.1099784|access-date=2020-08-14|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> Since their installation, fatal accidents have ceased. It was hoped that the opening of the [[M1 motorway (Republic of Ireland)|M1 motorway]] would divert a lot of the heavy traffic from the village but there is evidence that many heavy goods vehicles still use the N2 (and thus Slane bridge) to avoid paying the [[Toll bridge|toll]] on the [[Boyne River Bridge|M1 bridge]].<ref name="Keogh" /><ref name="HoganKeogh">{{cite news | last=Hogan | first=Treacy |author2=Keogh, Elaine  | url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/speeding-trucks-pose-major-safety-risk-on-death-bridge-26088346.html | title=Speeding trucks pose major safety risk on death bridge | work=The Irish Independent | date=29 May 2001 | access-date=20 May 2006}}</ref> Planning permission for a 3.5&nbsp;km bypass of Slane was refused by [[An Bord Pleanála]] in 2012, due to heritage concerns regarding the nearby [[Newgrange|Newgrange monument]]. An Bord Pleanála said that due to the proposed road being in the "viewshed" of the Newgrange [[UNESCO]] site, approval would only be considered if no alternative route was possible.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Proposed Slane Bypass - Brú na Bóinne Heritage Sites|url=https://www.newgrange.com/news35.htm|access-date=2020-08-30|website=www.newgrange.com}}</ref>

The bridge has not always been the source of tragedy, the evening of 18 May 1969 is fondly remembered by many of the community when a truck laden with [[Old Bushmills Distillery|Bushmills]] and Cream of Barley Whiskey was travelling from [[County Antrim]] to Dublin when its brakes failed coming down the hill and it rolled over the bridge wall into the river some 3 meters or so below, the driver{{who|date=December 2013}} survived and was brought to Hospital but the entire loot of liquor was strewn across the river bottom. Most of the town of Slane were quick on the scene, vans and truck were seen spiriting away from the wreck of the truck in the dead of night. Several prosecutions followed, but the actual quantity of whiskey taken away is still known only to the management of Bushmills and perhaps to the Insurance Company that followed up the claim. The following day five Irish Divers, Brian Cusack, Sean Sheridan, Joe Murray, Fergus McKenna and Sean Donohoe arrived and while the local people of Slane were still [[dredging]] for bottles they collected 408 bottles in total, the local butcher in Slane at the time was apparently still drinking Bushmills Whiskey four years later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishsac.org/drupal/node/6 |title=The Boyne Water This article was written by Brian Cusack for a booklet commemorating the Irish Sub-aqua Club's twenty-fifth anniversary. |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091738/http://www.irishsac.org/drupal/node/6 |url-status=dead }}</ref>