Messages of sympathy were being sent last night to the relatives of two teenage brothers, nephews of the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, who died in a car crash in west Belfast.
Mr Liam McCorry (18) and his 15-year-old brother, Micheal, were the sons of Mrs Margaret and Mr Michael McCorry, a senior member of the ardchomhairle of the Workers' Party.
The youths were killed when their car collided with a black taxi on the Falls Road shortly after 10 p.m. on Tuesday. The tragedy is the second for the McCorry family in recent times. Mr Terry Enright, a youth worker who was married to the brothers' eldest sister, Deirdre, was shot dead by the LVF in Belfast in January 1998.
Liam had passed his driving test only some five months ago and had taken Micheal on an errand in the family car when the accident occurred near the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
Two of four people in the taxi were treated in the Royal Victoria Hospital, where their condition was described as comfortable.
The brothers' sister, Mairead (26) said Liam had passed his driving test in July. "He got a new Suzuki car for passing. It was his pride and joy." The assistant divisional officer of the Fire Brigade, Mr Jim Boyd, who was at the scene of the accident, said the two youths were dead when the rescue services arrived.
The deaths bring to 114 the number of road fatalities in the North this year. The North's Environment Minister, Lord Dubs, said the government was taking action to reduce the number of road deaths and would launch a new advertising campaign soon.
Lord Dubs said: "We have far too many accidents, far too many people are killed and seriously injured on the roads in Northern Ireland. Governments can do so much. We are going to launch another advertising campaign. "We've tightened up on things like penalty points. We've got speed checks to catch motorists going too fast. But motorists themselves and other road users have to behave sensibly."
School friends of the brothers visited the family home at Hawthorne Street, near the scene of the accident, yesterday. Liam was studying at Corpus Christi School in Belfast and Micheal was preparing for his GCSEs at St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School in Belfast.
One of Liam's teachers, Mr Denis Hughes, described him as a gentleman who was very quiet "but totally respected by staff and really well liked by his peers."
Mr and Mrs McCorry are members of the Workers' Party. Its president, Mr Tom French, extended the party's "sincerest sympathies to the McCorry family on the devastating loss of Liam and Micheal".