The Garda authorities have confirmed that the two gardaí involved in a fatal road accident on the N4 on Monday night were responding to a "call out".
Garda authorities said yesterday they could not reveal the nature of the call the gardaí were responding to when they were involved in the crash with a hackney cab which left a 51-year-old woman dead.
It is unclear whether the Garda car was travelling above the normal speed limit when the accident happened, as technical examination of the scene was not yet complete, a Garda spokeswoman said.
The accident happened just before 11 p.m. at the Junction of the N4 and the Newcastle Road in Lucan.
The two gardaí were travelling on the N4 when their patrol car was involved in a collision with a Hackney cab coming onto the N4 from the more minor Newcastle road. The woman passenger in the Hackney cab was killed in the crash.
The driver of the cab was taken to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown where he was said to be in a "critical but stable" condition last night.
The two gardaí were taken to Tallaght hospital but were later discharged.
Gardaí last night were still trying to establish the circumstances which led to the horrific crash and are appealing for anyone with information to contact Lucan Garda station at 01-6667300.
Nine people have been killed on the roads since the start of the holiday weekend. This brings the total number of road deaths this year to 240.
Little more than one hour before the N4 crash, eight-year-old Niall Hogan died when he was struck by a car while crossing the road. The accident happened at 9.25 p.m. in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary.
Another pedestrian was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning. Mr Mark Rooney (27) from St Joseph's Terrace, Sligo was struck by a car at John F. Kennedy Parade, Sligo at about 2.30 a.m.
Two brothers, Mr David Phelan and Mr John Phelan, aged 24 and 26, from Baptise Grange, Fethard, Co Tipperary, died when their motorbike collided with a car at 8.05 p.m. on Sunday. The accident happened outside the village of Fethard.
The most recent of the nine deaths occurred in the early hours of yesterday morning at Newrath Co Waterford. A 58-year-old male driver died when his car collided with another car shortly after midnight.
Three more people were killed in separate two-car collisions since Saturday.
Ms Wendy Lynch, a 33-year-old mother-of-one from Downpatrick, Co Down, died when her car and a van collided near Lynn Mullingar at 2.15 p.m. on Saturday.
Mr Brendan Hopkins (52) from Castlebar died following a two-car head-on collision at 2.25 a.m. on Monday. The three passengers in Mr Hopkins's car and the driver of the other car were taken to Mayo General Hospital.
An hour later, 25-year-old Mr Thomas Clifford from Croagh, Co Limerick, died and seven people were injured in a two-car collision at Castlematrix, Rathkeale Co Limerick.
The accident occurred at 3.20 a.m. on Monday.
