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A woman who paralyzed rush hour traffic this afternoon by stopping her car in the middle of a busy highway before allegedly starting to dance while singing Republican songs was arrested.
The incident occurred shortly after 5pm on the northbound lanes of the M18 in Co Clare between the Newmarket interchanges at Fergus and Dromoland.
The woman was reportedly “very drunk” and was reportedly singing and dancing on the highway, refusing to allow traffic to pass.
According to eyewitnesses, the woman, believed to be in her 50s, stopped her car at the center white line between two lanes of traffic before getting out of her car and beginning to sing “Republican songs.”
“It just stopped right in front of us, right in the middle of the road. I thought I had hit something. Then she got out of the car and started dancing and singing. I was driving home from work with a colleague and we looked at each other in disbelief, ”said one motorist.
Traffic was jammed for several kilometers while multiple calls were made to emergency services. Congestion was also reported at nearby Newmarket on Fergus, as traffic veered off the highway at Junction 10 to take an alternate route.
Gardaí, paramedics from the National Ambulance Service and various units from Shannon Town’s County Clare Fire and Rescue Service responded.
According to another eyewitness: “She was singing ‘Come Out Ye Black and Tans’ and dancing around the place. Then she lay down in the passing lane and refused to get up. She could have been asleep. “
It is understood that a passing ambulance stopped to help the woman, but could not be transported because a patient was already on board. Another ambulance was dispatched to the scene.
More than an hour after the incident began, the woman was arrested at the scene and taken to Shannon Garda Station. The highway reopened at around 6.15pm, but it took a while for the traffic jams to clear.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed: “A motorist was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence.”
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