Two 19-year-old men who died when they crashed into a car driven by an off-duty garda yesterday morning have been named.
Owen Merriman, of Palmerstown Woods, Clondalkin, and Lee Mooney, of Woodford Park Road, Clondalkin died in the Naas Road crash just after 6am yesterday.
They were travelling in a Fiat Punto when they turned the wrong way onto the N7 near Citywest.
The garda, stationed at Tallaght Garda station, sustained serious injuries, and his condition is "serious but stable" at Tallaght hospital.
The crash was referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission because a member of An Garda Síochána was involved. After examining the scene, it cleared the garda of any misconduct. The collision was seen by a number of witnesses.
The crash happened shortly after 6am on the the southbound lane of the dual carriageway between the Citywest and Rathcoole exits. The men travelled less than half a kilometre on the wrong side of the road before crashing into the garda's Honda car.
The two men were taken to Tallaght hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Eight people have died in road crashes since Friday.