New Year, New Cameras: 26 new speed traps go live across Donegal on New Year's Day

Twenty-six new mobile safety camera zones will become operational across Donegal from 1 January 2026, marking the largest single expansion of the GoSafe network in the county since their introduction in 2010.

An Garda Síochána has confirmed the locations where speed traps will be laid, saying their primary purpose is to reduce speed-related collisions in order to save lives and lessen injuries on Irish roads.

There have been 190 road deaths across the 26-Counties in 2025 (to 30 December) - the highest figure in more than a decade. Ten of those fatalities occurred in Donegal.

Safety camera zones are placed on roads with a history of speed-related collisions, including fatal crashes. Locations are selected following analysis of Garda data from fatal, serious and minor collisions, along with consideration of areas highlighted by local communities through Garda community engagement.

Initially, the mobile safety cameras were dismissed as ‘shooting fish in a barrel’ and designed merely to raise money through fining drivers, but public acceptance has grown as people come to understand the role they play in ensuring speeding drivers are issued with penalty points that put their licences in jeopardy.

Of the 26 new speed traps in Donegal, four are at locations where fatal collisions previously occurred - the R231 near Rossnowlagh, the N13 near Newtowncunningham, the R236 at St Johnston and the R238 at Moville.

Safety camera zones are identified as high-risk locations and can include school safety zones, community engagement request zones and road works safety zones.

Since 2010, An Garda Síochána has worked to improve road safety through the use of mobile safety cameras operated on its behalf by service provider GoSafe. The enforcement cameras operate from a fleet of marked vehicles, with GoSafe also subject to key performance indicators to ensure enforcement is targeted at high-risk days and times.

Assistant Commissioner Catharina Gunne, Roads Policing and Community Engagement, said the vast majority of motorists obey speed limits.

“There is a small persistent cohort of selfish, dangerous drivers who choose to drive in excess of the posted speed limit. These drivers put themselves and members of their community at risk, particularly children, older people, cyclists and other motorists,” she said. “An Garda Síochána’s priority is to ensure that the vast majority of people who use the roads responsibly are not put in danger by this minority of reckless drivers who continue to drive at excessive speed.

“By identifying and targeting high-risk areas, including those highlighted by local communities, the aim is to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions.”

District by district breakdown

Donegal already has 65 GoSafe zones across the county, covering 283km of road where collisions occur most frequently. The addition of 26 new speed traps represents a 40 per cent increase, putting a further 49km of the county’s roads under mobile speed camera surveillance.

In the Donegal Municipal District, 11km has been added across six different zones. These include two stretches totalling 4km on the N56 west of Donegal Town towards Bruckless, a 3km section of the N3 Ballyshannon–Belleek road incorporating Rockfield National School, and sections of the R231 at Rossnowlagh and the R232 Laghey-Pettigo Road at Trummon.

While not the most populous, Glenties is the largest municipal district in the county geographically and will receive the greatest number of new speed traps, eight in all.

Two sections of the N56 are included: a 4km stretch through Falcarragh, the longest new zone in the county, and a 2km section at Meenacuing near Gaoth Dobhair’s An Chúirt Hotel.

Additional zones include sections of the R257 at Glassagh in Derrybeg, the R250 through Fintown following a community request, and more than 2km of the R251 from Glenveagh to Drumfin on the ‘back of Errigal’ road.

Just over 9km of new speed traps have been added across the two Inishowen municipal districts. Almost 6km of the N13 from Burt through Newtown and on to Drumbarnett near Manorcunningham has been included, while Moville will see around 3km of new zones on the R241 from the town’s Main Street to Ballybrack near Greencastle, and on the R238 on the southern side of the town near Moville Community College.

In the Letterkenny district, 6.5km of new zones have been added. These include 2.6km of the N56 from Lisnennan towards Knocknamona and the Mountain Top, 2.7km of the R229 from the Port Road bus station roundabout towards Windyhill, and a 1.3km stretch of the R250 to the west of the town from Newmills (Dooen) to Glenswilly National School.

The Milford Municipal District will see two new sections of the N56 covering 4km through Kilmacrennan, from Ballykeeran Woods to Termon, come under the speeding zone regime.

At 3.76km, the Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District has the smallest overall addition. New zones in the east of the county include the N15 between Stranorlar and Killygordon, and the R236 through St Johnston.

An interactive map of speed camera locations is available on the website of An Garda Síochána.