Seven people died in road accidents on Saturday and Sunday. Four teenagers were killed when their car crashed into a ditch at Faughart Lower, two miles north of Dundalk, Co Louth, at about midnight on Saturday. Two of them, 15-ear-old girls, were cousins. The two others, boys aged 15 and 16, were members of the Travelling community.
The sole survivor of the accident, a 16-year-old girl, was in a critical condition in hospital last night. None of those in the car had a driving licence. The 15-year-old girls, from Dundalk, were named last night as Lisa Hughes, Cedarwood Park, and Ciara Tasker, Oakland Park. The boys were Martin Ward (15), from Ballinasloe, Co Galway, and Patrick Connors, Quay Street, Newry.
It is believed that Martin Ward had relations living in the Glenwood estate in Dundalk. The surviving girl is Emma Tuite (16), Cox's Demesne, Dundalk. The three girls lived close to one another and were good friends.
They had been to a party for an aunt of Ciara's in Dundalk earlier on Saturday night. They later met up with the other teenagers who died.
The white Ford Orion crashed into a ditch after it failed to take a sharp bend at Faughart Lower, approximately two miles north of Dundalk. It went straight into the ditch on the other side of the road.
Gardai at the scene believe the victims died immediately. Three ambulances and two units of Dundalk fire brigade were called and firefighters used cutting equipment to free the passengers.
They were taken to the Louth County Hospital, where post-mortem examinations on the four were carried out yesterday afternoon. Emma Tuite was transferred to Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.
"This is an absolute tragedy. Words cannot describe it . . . For parents to learn that four young people who went out to enjoy themselves were killed, it is just unbelievable, and we have seen too many of them," said Insp Patrick Magee.
Last night a local priest, Father Jim Carroll, said the clergy were again appealing for young people to try and learn from the bitter lessons of the past and to think again about driving, and especially at night.
Three men were killed in separate accidents on Saturday.
In Co Kildare a pedestrian in his mid-50s died after he was struck by a car at Dagwells Cross on the road between Prosperous and Allenwood at 10 p.m. on Saturday night.
The man was brought to Naas General Hospital, but was dead on arrival.
A male pedestrian, also in his mid-50s, was killed in Co Leitrim earlier on Saturday. The man was struck by a car at 7.45 p.m. at Lahard on the Swanlinbar-Ballinamore road.
A 23-year-old man was killed in an accident in Kildare early on Saturday morning. Mr Anthony Quinn of Mellitta Park, Kildare, died when the car in which he was a passenger struck a wall on the Maddenstown Road at 2.30 a.m.
The driver of the car was seriously injured and was taken to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, for treatment. He has since been transferred to Naas General Hospital, where his condition has been described as critical.