Gardaí are expected to question two boys, aged 16 and 17, later this week about the deaths of two gardaí who were killed when a stolen car struck their patrol car on the Stillorgan dual carriageway in south Dublin early yesterday morning.
The gardaí were trying to direct traffic off the dual carriageway, out of the path of a stolen car which they knew was approaching at more than 100 miles an hour.
The stolen car smashed into the Garda car at the junction of Stillorgan Road and The Rise shortly before 6.30 a.m.
Garda Anthony Tighe (53), of Ranelagh, Dublin - married with a family of four, one of whom is serving as a garda in Kilmainham station in Dublin - and Garda Michael Padden, a 27-year-old single man from Belmullet, Co Mayo, were killed instantly in the collision. Both were attached to Donnybrook station.
Their deaths bring to 10 the number of gardaí killed in road accidents while on duty in the last four years.
Garda Tighe, the driver of the squad car, and Garda Padden were trying to clear cars from the path of a stolen sports car which was being driven towards Dublin at speeds of over 100 miles an hour.Only a few minutes before the collision, the stolen car was driven between two cars stopped at traffic lights at White's Cross on the dual carriageway.
As it sped past, it scraped the side of one of the cars, ripping off its wing mirror.
Two youths travelling in the stolen car suffered comparatively minor leg injuries.
They were taken initially to St Vincent's Hospital and later to St James's Hospital, where one underwent surgery last night to his leg.
Chief Supt Michael Fitzgerald, of the Dublin South East Division, yesterday extended sympathy to the families of the dead officers.
"It is terrible that this has happened to two members doing their job. We are satisfied they were doing it correctly, making every effort to ensure that other road users were not injured or killed.
"Their priority was to ensure that other road users weren't killed. It is unfortunate that in the line of duty, ensuring the safety of others, they were killed."
The car involved in the collision was stolen after a gang of up to 10 youths from the Drimnagh area broke into an apartment in Bullock Harbour and took the keys to the car.
Gardaí yesterday advised people who own powerful cars in the south Dublin area not to make a habit of leaving the car keys in noticeable places close to doors or windows.
The President, Mrs McAleese, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, and Opposition leaders last night expressed sympathy to the families of the dead officers.