A garda investigation is under way into Sunday night's crash on the M50 in which three young men, including a 35-yearold Dublin priest, were killed.
Nine men under 36 died in six separate accidents between Friday morning and Sunday night.
In the most horrific, a four-car pile-up near the Finglas flyover of the M50, Mr Jason Nugent (19) of Fortlawn Drive, Blanchardstown, and Mr Robert Fitzsimons (27), of Whitestown Park, Blanchardstown, were killed instantly when their car careered across the central median. It crashed into the vehicle of Father David Boylan (35) of St Agnes's Road in Crumlin, killing him also. Gardai are appealing for witnesses.
The deaths bring to 82 the number killed in road accidents in the 11 weeks of this year.
"The Government's road safety policy is a shambles," said Fine Gael's deputy spokesman on public enterprise, Mr Denis Naughten, while a north Dublin councillor, Mr Sean Dolphin (FG), called for the National Roads Authority to install crash barriers across the central reservation of the M50, to replace the grass verge.
The National Roads Authority disputed this "simplistic response", however, arguing that if there had been a barrier, the vehicle could have been deflected, causing more fatalities.
Defending the M50's safety record, the NRA's head of corporate Affairs, Mr Michael Egan, said that up to Sunday night only two people had been killed since 1996 on the M50.
Out of more than 90 million journeys on the M50 in that time, there had been just 58 accidents, and Garda reports indicate the overwhelming cause was driver error. "It's inaccurate to describe it as a high-risk road," said Mr Egan. "The M50 has proved itself to be a very safe road - it's probably one of the safest roads in the country."
Father Boylan was a diocesan adviser in post-primary schools and parish chaplain at St Agnes's parish in Crumlin. Cardinal Connell yesterday described Father Boylan as "an exemplary priest" and said his death was a great loss to Catholic education.
Also killed in crashes on Sunday were a motorcyclist in his early 30s, who died when his motorbike hit a car; Mr Wayne Martin (21) and Mr Cian O'Mahoney (20) from Cork, who died when they lost control of their car, which then left the road; and Mr John McDonagh (24) from Clover Hill Road in Clondalkin, who was killed in a one-car crash in Co Kilkenny.