Two children both aged under five died in road collisions north and south of the Border over the weekend.
A four-year-old boy lost his life and three people were injured after the vehicle in which they were travelling overturned near Ballybunion, Co Kerry yesterday. The four-year-old was taken to Kerry General Hospital where he later died.
A second child and two adults were also hospitalised and all were last night said to be in a stable condition.
The incident took place on a sweeping wide bend at Ballyconry on the Ballybunion to Ballyduff road at about 1.30pm. Gardaí and emergency services said the road was wet and slippery. It appears the vehicle hit a telegraph pole and the pole was then involved in a collision with another car coming in the opposite direction. The vehicle from which the injured were removed ended up in the ditch.
The dead boy is understood to have been a member of the Travelling community and was on a visit to the area. He was not being named last night.
In a separate two-car collision in Co Down on Saturday, a young girl, believed to be less than four years old,died after the Volkswagen Golf car in which she was travelling crashed with a Mitsubishi Shogun outside Kilkeel on the Newry road at 2.15pm.
At least one other person involved in the collision was in a serious condition last night. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is withholding details of the incident pending notification of the deceased child's next of kin.
Meanwhile, gardaí have confirmed that 83-year-old Josephine Grimes died on Friday after her car collided with a telegraph pole at Knockcroghery, Roscommon.
Gardaí in Westmeath have also released the name of a lorry driver who died when his vehicle was involved in a collision with another lorry at Crookedwood on Friday morning. He was Seán Egenton (66), from Oldcastle in Co Meath.
Separately, gardaí have named the 59-year-old woman who died in Thursday's collision between a car and a lorry at Rathregan, Batterstown, as Marie Grimes, from Kildalkey, Co Meath.
A man who died in a two-vehicle collision on Moneymore Road near Cookstown, Co Tyrone, on Saturday has also been named as Ian Workman, (48), from Coagh.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's office has been informed after a PSNI officer drew his gun during an incident in which an 18-year-old man was seriously injured after being hit by a car in Belfast on Friday evening.
The man was walking along Upper Dunmurray Lane when the collision happened late on Friday night. Police said they were not treating it as a hit-and-run, but revealed that a Vauxhall Vectra later failed to stop for officers at the scene. An 18-year-old man was subsequently arrested.