Ten people were killed in just 24 hours on Irish roads in one of the worst weekends for traffic fatalities on record.
Two of the victims were motorcyclists and two cyclists. Three of the dead were foreign nationals. The eight men and two women were all killed in collisions between 4 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. yesterday.
The biggest single death toll was in a head-on collision between two cars near Templemore, Co Tipperary, early yesterday. The driver and front-seat passenger of one of the cars - both of whom were Belarussian men - died along with a rear-seat female passenger of the other car.
The dead woman, aged (19), was sitting beside her boyfriend who was seriously injured. Her sister, who was the driver of the car, was also injured. All three are believed to be from the Roscrea/Kinnity area.
A back-seat passenger of the other car, another Belarussian, was also injured in the crash.
All the non-nationals ranged in age from 20 to 30 years, and are believed to have worked in a steel company in Borrisoleigh. Gardaí said they would not be naming any of the dead before today.
The triple-fatality occurred at about 3.30 a.m. on a straight stretch of road in the townland of Drom, between Templemore and the village of Borrisoleigh. The dead and injured were taken by ambulance to Nenagh Hospital.
Supt Jim Mulligan, of Templemore Garda station, said the cause of the crash had not been established, but a forensic examination of the scene was taking place.
Gardaí have appealed for witnesses and are particularly anxious to speak to a man who phoned Templemore Garda station to inform them of the accident.
Two cyclists were killed in separate incidents in Counties Cork and Limerick yesterday afternoon. In Midleton, a 50-year-old man received fatal injuries after his bicycle collided with a car on the N25 at Oatencake at 1.45 p.m. The man was taken to Cork University Hospital where he died a short time later.
In Co Limerick, a male cyclist in his 40s was killed when his bike hit a truck on the N69 Limerick to Adare road near Askeaton at 3.15 p.m.
In Co Roscommon, a young man was killed when the car he was driving left the road and hit a fence at 10.40 a.m. yesterday on the N4 at Tawnytaskin, Boyle. Mr Nigel McSharry (23), Old Bundoran Road, Sligo, was taken to Sligo General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Also, early yesterday a middle-aged man died from injuries he received in a collision at Grange, Stradbally, Co Laois. Mr James Mangan (64), Ballycoolan, Stradbally, was driving a car which collided with a coach at 4.20 p.m. on Saturday. He was taken to Portlaoise General Hospital with a female passenger of the car and was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital Dublin where he died.
In Cork, a 22-year-old motorcyclist was killed when his bike hit a tree at North Mall at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday. Mr Julien Alain Trichet (22), from Saint Pazanne, near Nantes, France, was a trainee mechanic who had been working with Ross Cycles in Cork city.
His pillion passenger - another Frenchman in his 20s, who also came to Cork to work as a trainee motorbike mechanic - was seriously injured in the crash. He underwent emergency surgery at Cork University Hospital, where he was described as "critical" yesterday.
In Co Wexford, a woman driving a car and a male motorcyclist both died when their vehicles collided at Farmleigh on the Enniscorthy to Bunclody Road at 6 p.m. on Saturday. They were named as Ms Ita Roche (59), Tombrick, Enniscorthy and Mr Noel Quigley (35), of Crefogue, Enniscorthy.
