Two teenage girls were among seven people who lost their lives on Irish roads over the weekend.
Gardaí last night appealed for witnesses to four of the road accidents in Wicklow, Louth, Clare and Carlow, which claimed the lives of five people.
Gardaí are treating one of the deaths as a hit-and-run.
Two 20-year-old Donegal men were killed in Fermanagh in a collision between two cars at the Ballycassidy bridge near Enniskillen. They were named as Mr Brian Harvey, from Inver, Co Donegal, and Mr Gavin Lyons, from Drimark in Donegal town.
On Saturday afternoon just before 1 p.m. tragedy struck in Avoca, Co Wicklow, when Stephanie McCawley (15), Lower Kilmagig, Avoca, and Vanessa Byrne (13), Station Road, Avoca, died after they were struck by a trailer which was being towed by a tractor.
The teenagers were on their way to buy sweets at a shop near their homes. One of the girls was pushing a bicycle.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene and were removed to Loughlinstown Hospital.
The Avoca parish priest, Father Dan Breen, said the parish had been devastated by the double tragedy. "Their families are from the area. They aren't newcomers so they are very well known. It's just come as a huge shock for everybody. It happened in the middle of the day when they were down getting sweets. They were great pals."
Both girls played camogie for their school teams at the Community College in Rathdrum and St Mary's College in Arklow. Stephanie McCawley was a twin.
Just hours after the deaths in Wicklow, a 47-year-old man was killed when the motorcycle he was driving was involved in a collision with a car about half a mile from the village of Myshall, Co Carlow, at 5.50 p.m. on Saturday.
The victim was named locally as Mr Andrew O'Brien of Lismaconly, Myshall.
Shortly before midnight on Saturday, Mr Donal Doherty (33) was killed when the car he was driving struck a wall at Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth. The dead man, from Dulargy, Ravensdale, Dundalk, was the only occupant of the car.
Gardaí at Shannon last night said they were investigating a hit- and-run incident following the death of a pedestrian at 2.20 a.m. yesterday near Tullyglass, Shannon, Co Clare.
The 37-year-old victim had not been named last night. He was struck by a car at the entrance of the Farnoge Estate at Tullyglass while walking. The car failed to stop.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and his body was removed to Limerick General Hospital.
There has been a surge in the number of road accidents in the last 10 days, with 17 people losing their lives.
The latest deaths bring the total for June to 35, compared with 34 last year. In May, 38 people were killed in road traffic accidents compared to just 20 during May 2002.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said last night he was disappointed at the figures for May and June. However, a spokesman for the Minister insisted that, since the introduction of penalty points last November, 48 fewer people have been killed on Irish roads compared with the corresponding period last year.
