The provisional death toll on the roads here this year stood at 363 yesterday, following the deaths of three men in separate early morning road crashes over the Christmas period.
All of the victims were aged in their 20s or 30s.
Two of the crashes took place on Christmas Day, while the third occurred on Christmas Eve.
The provisional overall figure for road deaths represents a decrease when compared to this time last year.
Stephen Clampett (34), Greenore Park, Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford, died after the car he was driving went out of control and struck a tree at Churchtown, Kilrane, on the Wexford to Rosslare Harbour Road, at 2.30am on Christmas Day.
He was alone in the car at the time of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene. No other vehicles were involved.
Later that morning in Co Westmeath, a man was fatally injured when the car he was driving was involved in a another single-vehicle crash in Ballinderry, Mullingar.
Massimo Lingi (24), Belvedere Hills, Mullingar, died when his car crashed at 3.50am. He was alone in the car.
His body was removed to Longford/Westmeath general hospital where a postmortem is due to be conducted. Mr Lingi was a second-generation Italian.
The third victim, named by gardaí yesterday as Brian Ferris (27), Kill, Co Kildare, died when the car in which he was a passenger hit a wall at 3.45am on Christmas Eve at Kingsfurze, Tipper Road, north Naas.
The male driver of the car is being treated for his injuries at Naas General Hospital, but his condition is described as not life threatening. No other vehicles were involved in the collision.
A spokeswoman for the Garda press office said that as of Friday last - the latest date for which figures are available - 360 people had died on the roads, down from 387 in 2005. The latest deaths brought the provisional total for this year to 363, she added.
Meanwhile, gardaí have named a woman who died in a fatal collision at Kilrush, Co Clare, on December 18th as Eileen O'Brien (75), Carnacalla, Co Clare.
A woman who was killed in a fatal collision in Wexford also on December 18th has been named as Eileen Lacey (51), Ballytarsna, Oulart, Gorey, Co Wexford.
In the North, two teenagers died on the roads over the weekend. David Heaslip (18) was killed on Sunday after being struck by a car in Belmont, east Belfast and Matthew Dagens (15) died on Saturday after he was struck by a car outside Downpatrick, Co Down, on Friday.
Three children remain critically ill in hospital following car crashes. They include two daughters of James McGuigan who was killed when his car was involved in a collision on the outskirts of Belfast on Friday. Another daughter, eight-year-old Lorna also died in the crash.
The third child was a 10-year-old boy who was hit by two cars while walking at Lough Road, Lurgan, Co Armagh, on Sunday.
So far this year, 124 people have died in traffic accidents in Northern Ireland. The annual death toll has been falling steadily since 1972, the worst year, when 372 people were killed. There were 134 fatal crashes in 2005.
In her annual Christmas message, President Mary McAleese condemned careless driving.
She said one of the gifts which we could share with one another this Christmas was the gift of care on our roads. "Our care costs us nothing," Mrs McAleese said. "Our carelessness costs others everything, their lives, their health, their happiness.
"So I ask all of us, young and old, to take seriously our personal responsibility for road safety. Keep the crying out of Christmas."
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also issued a public message on the subject of road safety on Christmas Eve.