Two women were killed in a two-car road traffic collision in north Longford yesterday afternoon.
Another two people were taken to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, with serious injuries.
One of those hospitalised is believed to be in a critical condition.
The two-vehicle collision occurred shortly after 2pm at Purth Cross, Dring, on the road between Granard and Aughnacliffe.
The two women who died were travelling in one of the cars involved in the collision.
The names of the dead women were not released last night until relatives had been notified.
They were both passengers in one of the cars.
However, unconfirmed reports last night suggested that the dead women were a mother and her daughter from Co Longford.
Fire service personnel from Granard and Edgeworthstown used cutting equipment to remove the dead women from the vehicle.
The cars involved in the incident were believed to have been an Opel Corsa and an Opel Zafira.
Purth Cross is just over three miles from the town of Granard and the road was sealed off for several hours last night to allow Garda crash investigators to carry out a technical examination of the area.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a man in his 30s has died after the car he was driving hit a wall in Co Wexford.
The incident happened on the N11 at Cooran, Enniscorthy, at approximately 3am on Monday.
Gardaí said that no other vehicles were involved and the driver was on his own in the car at the time.
The scene was preserved for technical examination.
The deaths brought to 117 the number of people who have been killed on Irish roads this year.