Richard II of England was the next monarch to set foot in Ireland, but his attempt to gain control proved a fatal distraction.

Wouldn't the male instinct to protect females provide a fatal distraction in the heat of combat?

Chan asks everyone to keep quiet and clear the area, so as not to cause a potentially fatal distraction for the medical staff during the delicate operation.

After all the arguments about fatal distractions, they've discovered that putting men and women together actually improves training and fosters the much-vaunted cohesion.

Earlier it might have been a fatal distraction.

A major reason the Mariners traded Griffey was their concern that his lame-duck presence would create a fatal distraction.

He forced himself not to turn back-that could be a fatal distraction.

On the other hand, Kathleen Brown's floundering campaign for California governor, for which the Simpson drama could well prove a fatal distraction, would love the judge to yank the plug.

Samul cautiously returned his gaze to Danny and Arla, fearful of any movement that might cause a fatal distraction.

That sense of the right's issues as a fatal distraction for Republicans can be found across the party's ideological range.