Four people died in three separate road incidents in counties Donegal and Dublin over the weekend.
Two men who were fatally injured in a crash at Birchhill, Co Donegal on Saturday have been named locally as Caoilan Bushe and Leon Shovlin.
Bushe (30), from Letterbarrow, and Shovlin (27), from the Ardara area, died when the car they were travelling in and another vehicle collided on a stretch of the N15 between Donegal town and Barnesmore Gap at about 2pm.
A man and a woman, both in their 20s, who were travelling in the same car, were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital to be treated for injuries described as non life-threatening.
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A man and a woman, both in their 40s, who were travelling in the second vehicle, were taken to the same hospital to be treated for injuries also described as non life-threatening.
Meanwhile, a man aged in his 20s died in hospital on Sunday following a single-vehicle collision in the Inishowen area of Co Donegal on Saturday night.
The man, who was the driver and sole occupant of the car, was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry after the crash on the R238 at Ardmore, Muff at around 9.45pm. The road was partly closed and undergoing a forensic examination on Sunday.
An Garda Síochána appealed to anyone with information about the incidents, or who has camera footage that could help the investigations, to contact gardaí in Donegal town and Buncrana.
The three deaths bring the number of fatalities on the roads in Co Donegal so far this year to seven, three fewer than in the whole of last year.
The Mayor of Donegal, Cllr Paul Canning, said his “prayers and sympathy” were with the families of those killed and injured.
“We as a community must continue to promote road safety and strengthen our message now more than ever the need to stay safe on our roads,” he said.
Cllr Michael Naughton, cathaiorleach of the Donegal Municipal District, said the news was “devastating” and it was “a dark day for Donegal Town and Donegal as a whole”.
“When you leave home on a morning, nobody ever knows what the day will hold,” he said. “We just cannot be careful enough when we go on the road.”
Separately, a woman was fatally injured in a road incident in Loughlinstown, south Co Dublin on Saturday night.
The pedestrian, aged in her 20s, was struck by a car on the N11 Bray Road at approximately 11.50pm. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Garda technical staff carried out an examination of the scene on Sunday.
The force appealed to anyone who witnessed the incident, and road users with camera footage from the area that could help the investigation, to contact Shankill Garda station on 01 666 4400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
