The three young men who died in two separate road accidents on Sunday night were all returning from the same car rally in Donegal, it emerged yesterday.
Their deaths bring to six the total number of young men killed on the roads since Friday.
Two of the men, Ronan Brady (21), of Ballinlough, and his friend Ciaran Kelly (21), of Kilnacarrow, both in Ballinalee, Co Longford, were killed when the car in which they were travelling left the road and struck a pole around 9.45 p.m. on Sunday.
The accident happened at a slight bend in the road in the village of Moydow, south of Longford Town. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
A little over two hours later, Niall Dempsey (22), of The Walk, Roscommon, was killed when the car he was driving went out of control and hit a tree at Fairymount, Kilrooskey, Co Roscommon. Another man who was a passenger in the car escaped with minor injuries.
Gardaí in Lanesboro, Co Longford, said yesterday that all three men had been spectators at a car rally in Donegal earlier that day. However it is not known if the men knew each other or had been together at the event.
The rally was an organised event and roads had been closed.Dangerous crashes involving spectators are not uncommon following rallies of this kind, said a garda. "We've seen several accidents in the midlands occurring after these sorts of things. The adrenalin just seems to get to the young people," a spokesman told The Irish Times.
The fatal crashes come just days after the deaths of two teenagers and a 21-year-old in north County Dublin.
Mr Peter O'Rourke (18), from Lenisk Lawn, The Donahies, Donaghmede and his friends Mr Anthony Murphy (18), Beverton Grove, Donabate and Mr Aston Ryan (21), Grangemore Crescent, Donaghmede, died when the Nissan Micra in which they were travelling went out of control and hit a reinforced lamppost at the junction of Dublin Road and Sutton Park, at around 4 a.m. on Friday.
Mr Brian Farrell of the National Safety Council said that while the number of people killed on the roads had decreased since the introduction of the penalty points, road deaths involving young men were still disproportionately high.
"When you consider what proportion of the population young men are, they are vastly over represented in car accidents. That's why we're focusing our campaign on getting them to slow down.
"Last Friday was the worst single collision of the year, and now we've had this other tragic accident. It actually follows that between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. is the most dangerous time to be on the roads and for some reason Sunday night is the most lethal time of all on the roads."
A 37-year-old woman also lost her life in a car accident over the weekend. Ms Jane Smith, from Whitehouse Cross, Dromisken, Co Louth, died at 5.30 a.m. on Sunday when her car hit a ditch.
