The Rose of Tralee International Festival Partners with The Road Safety Authority to promote Vision Zero and make public road safety appeal.

The Rose of Tralee International Festival Partners with The Road Safety Authority to promote Vision Zero and make public road safety appeal.

The Road Safety Authority – Official Rose Tour Partner to the Rose of Tralee International Festival 2023

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is delighted to announce the Official Rose Tour Partner for . This year marks the second year of the RSA’s sponsorship of the , which is important and timely as it coincides with the launch of a Vision Zero awareness campaign.

The 2023 Rose Tour, featuring an entourage of 32 Roses will commence from August 11^th and will visit key destinations nationwide including Counties Wexford, Longford, Offaly, Meath and Limerick – concluding in Tralee on August 18^th, for the extravaganza (see Editor’s Notes below for full Tour Itinerary).

Commenting on the partnership, Ms. Liz O`Donnell, Chairperson, RSA stated “The RSA was proud to become a partner of The Rose of Tralee International Festival last year and we are delighted to be sponsoring the Rose Tour once again. By partnering with The Rose of Tralee, we are able to bring the Vision Zero message to road users all over Ireland and further afield, including in specific locations in Counties Wexford, Tipperary, Limerick, Dublin, Kildare. Vision Zero aims to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by 2050. This year, on the 2023 tour, we will focus in particular on encouraging drivers to slow down.”

“The Roses will play a crucial role in helping us communicate life-saving road safety messages, including a social media competition and creation of digital assets with personalised messages from Roses about road safety issues that they care about.”

The RSA will also have a presence on the ground over the weekend in Tralee. The RSA’s road safety ‘Shuttle’ will provide the public with a hands-on road safety experience including interactive and virtual reality road safety games and simulators.

Anthony O’Gara, Rs"The Rose of Tralee International Festival is delighted to announce our collaboration with The Road Safety Authority. Road safety is of paramount importance nationwide and we recognise that we all need to work together in the interest of preventing deaths and injuries on Irish roads. Indeed, the Festival is delighted to support the invaluable efforts of the RSA and are committed to spreading their road safety messages through the .”

The Rose of Tralee International Festival will take place from August 18^th – August 22^nd, with the Live TV shows broadcasted on RT August 21^st and 22^nd.

The RSA and The Rose of Tralee International Festival also took the opportunity in announcing the partnership to appeal to the public to help reduce the devastating increase in road fatalities this year. To date in 2023, a total of 104 people have died in road collisions, an increase of twelve compared to last year. All road users have a responsibility to stop this upward trend in road crashes by sharing the road safely with others and practicing good road safety habits.

Ireland’s Road Safety Strategy:

Ireland’s fifth government Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 aims to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% over the next 10 years. This means reducing deaths on Ireland’s roads annually from 144 to 72 or lower and reducing serious injuries from 1,259 to 630 or lower by 2030. 

The strategy is the first step in achieving the 2020 Programme for Government commitment of bringing Ireland to ‘Vision Zero’. This is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by the year 2050.

For information visit us online at www.roseoftralee.ie For further details or to arrange an interview contact:

Rose Tour Itinerary by County