Three Irish killed on Australian roads named

THREE IRISH people who were killed in two separate car crashes in Australia last week have been named.

Paul Duggan (25) and Diarmuid Aldun (24), both from Palmerstown, Dublin, died when their station wagon was in collision with a truck in Queensland last Thursday.

Gerard Duggan, a brother of Paul, is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Another man, a Briton, was also in the car when the collision occurred on the Bruce Highway about 30km south of Cardwell in Queensland.

In a separate accident, Niamh Chawke (37), from Dooradoyle, Co Limerick, died when her car hit a tree in Dubbo, about 300km from Sydney in New South Wales, also on Thursday. Ms Chawke is understood to have been living in Australia for a number of years.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to the families of those killed through the Irish embassy in Canberra.

One man was killed on Friday evening in a crash in Leixlip, Co Kildare.

The 39-year-old motorcyclist, who has yet to be named, died when his bike was in collision with a car at Kellystown Road at about 4.30pm.

The man was taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown where he was subsequently pronounced dead.

In the North, a pensioner who died after being knocked down on Belfast's Shankill Road on Friday has been named as 84-year-old Norman Russell.