A TWEET naming a young man who was killed in a car crash in Co Westmeath on Saturday was trending worldwide on Twitter yesterday.
The tweet – from the official Twitter account of One Direction’s Niall Horan – to the boyband member’s 5.8 million followers called for prayers for the three men who were involved in the crash outside Mullingar.
This in turn led to an avalanche of sympathetic responses from around the world.
According to a Garda spokesman yesterday, the name of the fatal car crash victim has not been officially released.
Mullingar man Quentin Reilly, who was in his 20s, died following the crash on the Mullingar to Killucan Road in Co Westmeath on Saturday morning.
He was a rear-seat passenger of a car which hit a ditch about five miles from Mullingar at about midday. Mr Reilly was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, Co Offaly, where he later died.
The driver of the car remains in a critical condition in the Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar while a second passenger received non life-threatening injuries.
Investigating gardaí renewed their appeal for information in relation to the crash over the weekend. Anyone with information can contact Mullingar Garda station on 044-938 4000, the Garda Confidential Line 1-800- 666111 or any Garda station.
A male teenager died in a road crash near Boyle, Co Roscommon, in the early hours of yesterday morning. The 17 year old was a passenger in the car that hit a ditch on the Frenchpark to Boyle road at about 1.20am.
Four other males, including the driver received minor injuries. They were all in their late teens.
Garda forensic collision investigators visited the scene and gardaí in Boyle have appealed for witnesses.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Drogheda are investigating a crash on the northbound section of the M1, near Dunleer, which happened yesterday afternoon. Two people were taken to hospital with injuries. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene.