Four men were killed in separate road accidents over the weekend.
A 15-year-old youth, Gearóid McDonagh, from Oughterard, Co Galway, was driving a stolen car when he was killed at about 1 a.m. yesterday. The youth was carrying two passengers when the car hit a ditch outside Oughterard. The passengers escaped without serious injury.
At around the same time Mr Barry Finnerty (19) was involved in a fatal collision on the Clonsilla Road in Blanchardstown, Dublin. The car, which was carrying at least four other passengers, hit a lamp post but no other passengers were injured. Mr Finnerty, from Broadway Drive, Clonsilla, died in hospital at about 5.30 a.m. yesterday.
Mr Leo Costello (67), from Culloville, Co Monaghan was killed when his car was involved in a collision with a van outside Ballybay, Co Monaghan on Saturday afternoon. The van driver was taken to Monaghan General Hospital with minor injuries.
In Ardee, Co Louth, a passenger, Mr Trevor Bollard (20), from Balbriggan, was killed in a single vehicle accident at about 1.35 a.m. on Sunday. The driver was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda where his injuries were described as minor.
Meanwhile, gardaí have named the 21-year-old man killed in a single vehicle accident in north Dublin on Friday night. Mr James Behan, from Mulhuddart, was killed when the car he was driving left the road at the Naul Road junction of St Margaret's Road, Ballymun.
These latest deaths bring to 13 the number of people killed in road traffic accidents in the first 13 days of this year. By the end of last January, 30 people were killed in road accidents.
