ON ONE of the busiest weekends of the year five people, including three pedestrians, died in road collisions in counties Galway, Clare, Tyrone and Fermanagh.
The tragedies occurred even as the Garda deployed extra resources in road checks and called on drivers to take extra care.
The deaths in the Republic bring to 174 the number who have died on the roads this year. Forty-five people have died since 2000 during August bank holiday weekends, including three last year.
Gardaí in Kilkee, Co Clare, are investigating a crash on the N67 at Dough, in which a 19-year-old woman was killed and two others were injured when the car she was driving was in collision with another car yesterday afternoon.
The incident occurred shortly after 4pm, about a mile from Kilkee on the Doonbeg road. It is understood that one of the vehicles left the road and came to a stop in a field following the impact.
The victim was the sole occupant of the car and her body was removed to Limerick Regional Hospital for a postmortem examination this afternoon.
The two female occupants of the second vehicle, whose injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, were treated at Ennis General hospital. Although not named by gardaí last night, it is understood that the victim is from the Carrigaholt area of west Clare.
Units of the fire brigade from Kilkee and ambulances from Ennis and Kilrush attended the incident, while a doctor from the ShannonDoc service was also sent to the scene. The teenager's death brings to seven the number of people killed on roads this year in the Clare Garda division.
In Galway, gardaí are investigating two collisions that resulted in the deaths of two people in Corrandulla and Carraroe.
A woman in her 30s was being detained at Galway Garda station yesterday in connection with a fatal traffic collision at Drumgriffin, Corrandulla, early yesterday morning.
The body of a man in his 60s was discovered at the location at about 8.50am and taken to University College Hospital, Galway, where a postmortem examination was carried out yesterday afternoon. A forensic examination of the crash site was also conducted.
Gardaí appealed for anybody who was on the Loughgeorge to Corrandulla road between 1am and 9am yesterday to contact them at 091-538000.
They also want to speak to the female occupants of a BMW car that stopped at the scene of the crash and contacted the emergency services.
In a separate incident, a male pedestrian in his early 40s was killed when he was struck by a car on the main street in Carraroe, Co Galway, at about 1.50am yesterday. A man in his early 30s was arrested at the scene, according to gardaí, who said that no other person was injured.
The names of the two people who died in the Galway incidents were not being released until all relatives had been informed.
In Co Tyrone a 41-year-old pedestrian from Cookstown died after he was struck by a van at Moneymore, Cookstown, in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The incident happened at about 4.30am at the Moneymore Road junction with Tamlathmore Road.
The PSNI named the victim as 41-year-old Edward Lyttle. Police said it was not a hit-and-run incident.
In Co Fermanagh a teenage driver died after his car crashed on Clones Road near Newtownbutler at around 1am on Saturday. A teenage passenger in the car was also injured when the vehicle went off the road. No other vehicle was involved.