People returning home from their Bank Holiday break today have been urged to drive carefully, after six people died in road crashes at the weekend.
The death of five people on Donegal roads within 24 hours marked a "dark day" for the county, Minister of State for Transport Pat the Cope Gallagher said yesterday.
The first fatality happened at midday on Saturday at Derryart, between Creeslough and Dunfanaghy. Martin McMullen (20) from Dunfanaghy died when the car in which he was a front-seat passenger hit a wall.
The 19-year-old male driver was seriously injured and was removed to Letterkenny General Hospital. At 2am yesterday, Thomas Conaghan (59) from Dromore, Mountcharles died after the tractor he was driving left the road and went into a field at Mountcharles.
Less than an hour later, Anthony Doherty (20) died when the car he was driving left the road and hit a tree at Craig, Muff. His 19-year-old passenger Róisín Doherty later died in Altnagelvin Hospital from injuries sustained in the collision. Both were from Derry.
Just before 4am yesterday, pedestrian Laura Hegarty (18) was the victim of a hit-and-run incident on the New Line Road in Letterkenny, close to the Garda station.
Local Garda Supt Vincent O'Brien appealed for the driver of the car to contact gardaí, and he also sought information from anyone in the area at the time.
Pat the Cope Gallagher said this was not the time to speculate on what caused the five deaths. But he said he hoped that this would "help to re-focus the message to all road users who are travelling or returning home from their Bank Holiday break, that we should expect the unexpected and drive accordingly".
Supt John McFadden, who has responsibility for traffic in the north west, visited the scenes of the crashes yesterday. Afterwards he said he was "pleading" with people to wake up and take responsibility.
"We're doing our bit in the gardaí but we need the co-operation of the public," he said.
The five deaths came just after the Donegal road safety working group launched a special awareness campaign. The theme of the Letterkenny St Patrick's Day parade was road safety.
An elderly woman died in Offaly after she was struck by a car at Ballycumber, Clara at 12.20pm yesterday. Another female pedestrian was seriously injured. She is being treated in Tullamore Hospital. Gardaí at Clara are investigating the incident.
Gardaí arrested 60 drivers for suspected drink driving in the first 10½ hours of St Patrick's Day; 207 were arrested over the next 24 hours.
A Garda statement said: "Gardaí are renewing their appeal to motorists to exercise care on the road, not to break the drink driving legislation and to show consideration for the safety of themselves and others."