Visitors to a popular Dublin tourist destination were left horrified and feeling helpless as a heartless driver ran over a beautiful swan.
The Swords Estuary was packed with people on Bank Holiday Sunday who witnessed the brutal killing of the defenceless animal.
Solvita Jakobsone was enjoying the sights when she noticed the driver coming at speed.
Speaking to Dublin Live, she said the poor swan didn't stand a chance but it could have been disastrous as there were a lot of children around too.
She said: "It happened at around 7pm. It was still daylight and the place was very busy.
"There was loads of people there feeding the swans and enjoying the extra weekend day.
"All of a sudden, I spotted the driver coming around the corner and he was driving much faster than he should have been.
"There were three swans on the road, two of them made it out of the way in time but the poor third swan did not. It all happened so fast."
Solvita described the driving as "careless" and said the driver stopped but fled the scene soon after.
"He hit the swan with the front and back tyres. You'd think that when he hit it first that he would stop immediately but he was going so fast, he ran over it with two wheels.
"It could have been so much worse. It could have been a little child who got hit.
"The driver stopped and had a look at what he had done but then said 'I need to see my wife but I'll be back' and left in a rushed frenzy."
Solvita did contact Gardai but they told her that they couldn't do anything about it.
She concluded: "Where I come from in Latvia, if someone did that to an animal they would be faced with a large fine or be forced to do some community service.
"I couldn't stop crying. It was a horrible thing to see happen and it was even worse seeing the swan lying there and slowly dying."
