A well-known competitive motorcyclist was among five people killed on Irish roads at the weekend, bringing the provisional number of road deaths so far this year to 265.
Darran Lindsay (35) died when the motorcycle he was driving during practice for the Killalane road race in north Dublin collided with another motorcycle on Saturday evening.
His death is not included in Garda statistics on road deaths because the crash occurred within a closed circuit, on a stretch of road at Killalane, between Skerries and Lusk.
Mr Lindsay, a married father of three from Co Antrim, died in Dublin's Beaumont Hospital following the crash, at approximately 8.15pm. Gardaí at Skerries are investigating the incident. It is believed he was thrown from his bike, which was travelling at a high speed, after colliding with a rider who was slowing down on a straight stretch of the Killalane circuit. The other rider was injured.
Chris McDonald, secretary of the Ulster Grand Prix supporters' club, said Mr Lindsay, from the village of Dundrod, would be sadly missed. "He was an awful nice fella and a keen family man," Mr McDonald said. "He was a very popular rider. Unfortunately it is the nature of the sport - it is a dangerous sport but I know that Darran enjoyed doing it. He had received numerous injuries over the years, as most of the top riders have, but he loved the sport."
Meanwhile, gardaí at Letterkenny, Co Donegal, are investigating a fatal crash at Rooskey, Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, early yesterday morning.
A man in his 20s died following the collision between two cars at 3am. The dead man, whose name has not yet been released, was a passenger in one of the cars. Five other people were taken to hospital in Letterkenny.
Gardaí in Mullingar are investigating a crash between a minibus and a car on Saturday afternoon in which the driver of the minibus lost his life. Dessie Connolly, Templemanor, Celbridge, Co Kildare, who was in his mid 60s, died as a result of the incident, at Lough Ennel on the N4 Mullingar-Longford road.
Separately, a three-car collision shortly after midnight on Saturday resulted in the death in Limerick hospital of a 19-year-old woman passenger in one of the cars. Emma Woodland, St Patrick's Road, Limerick, died following the crash at Ballysimon Road, Limerick.
A man has since appeared in court in relation to the incident.
Elsewhere, gardaí in Sligo are investigating a fatal crash shortly before midnight last Friday at Carrownurlar, Enniscrone. Éamonn Fitzgerald (38), Culleens, Co Sligo, was killed when the car he was driving left the road.
On Friday morning, a local authority refuse collector was killed when he was struck by a vehicle as he collected bins near Claremorris, Co Mayo. The man was named as Austin Carney (64), Lower Mace, Claremorris.