THE FOUR police officers killed in an early morning crash in Co Down on Sunday have been named. They were Declan Greene, Kenny Irvine, Kevin Gorman and James Magee. All of them came from south Down.
Floral tributes have been laid at the spot on the shores of Carlingford Lough near Warrenpoint where their police 4x4 Shogun vehicle crashed and caught fire in the early hours of Sunday while they were responding to a call for assistance.
All four died at the scene despite the efforts of a local taxi driver to save them from their burning car.
One of the four was related to the three members of the Greene family who died in a fishing tragedy off Kilkeel, Co Down, six years ago.
Another of the victims was a Gaelic footballer and a third was an "active Orangeman", the Orange Order said yesterday.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie called for inquiries into the tragedy to be completed before further comment was made on the cause of the accident.
"There has been a lot of speculation about what did or didn't happen at the scene," she said. "In my judgment, things happened so quickly that there was probably nothing anyone could do."
Tributes to the police officers were paid by all the parties represented in the Stormont Assembly.
First Minister Peter Robinson said: "These were officers out doing their duty. It is devastating for their families and our thoughts and prayers are with the families at this time."
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness referred to the loss of life on Northern roads over the weekend.
"Seven people have lost their lives," he said. "The incident in which the four young policemen were killed was truly terrible and terrible for their families."
Policing Board chairman Prof Sir Desmond Rea told the BBC yesterday: "No doubt heads will be down across the police service, especially in Newry and Mourne this morning.
"But what is important is that there is a day's work to be done and I know that across the whole of the service they will get on with it."
The deaths represent the worst single loss of life suffered by the PSNI since its creation in 2001 and by the police in Northern Ireland since the paramilitary ceasefires in 1994.