One of two youths killed in a two-car collision in west Cork on Monday night had just graduated from agricultural college hours earlier while the second was due to start college later this month.
Gerard Coakley (19), from Knocknacurra, Bandon, had been presented with a Certificate in Farming with Distinction at Clonakilty Agricultural College on Monday afternoon and was due to start a farm placement yesterday.
His friend, Timothy Holland jnr (19), from Avondale Drive in Bandon, who was also killed, was due to start accountancy studies at Cork Institute of Technology later this month.
The two friends were among a group returning from Clonakilty after Mr Coakley's graduation. They were passengers in an Opel Vectra which was in collision with a Volvo towing a horsebox at Gaggin on the main Bandon-Clonakilty Road at around 11 p.m.
The Vectra was cut in two by the force of the crash and both Mr Coakley and Mr Holland jnr were pronounced dead at the scene. Both drivers and two passengers in the Volvo were rushed to Cork University Hospital.
Both drivers were yesterday described as being in a comfortable condition while the two passengers from the Volvo were discharged from hospital. A horse being carried in the Volvo's horsebox was killed in the crash.
Yesterday, staff at Clonakilty Agricultural College were shocked by the tragic accident. "Gerard was a very intelligent, very co-operative and very popular young man - we're all just numbed," said Mr Jim Moloney, Regional Education Officer with Teagasc attached to the college.
The town of Bandon was also still coming to terms with the double tragedy. Both youths were former pupils of Hamilton High School and the principal, Mr Padraig Hamilton, said the deaths had saddened the entire school and community. "There's an air of deep, deep gloom here today - we're all very deeply saddened. They were both very fine young men," he said, adding that the two had completed the Leaving Certificate together in 1997.
Mr Coakley was the youngest in a family of five children. He is survived by his parents, Dan and Catherine, brothers, John and Oliver, and sisters, Teresa and Geraldine.
Mr Holland jnr was the eldest in a family of three children and he is survived by his parents, Tim and Clare, who are well-known in horse breeding circles, and by his sisters, Fiona and Madeleine.
The deaths bring to 13 the number of people who have died on Irish roads in the past seven days and to 315 those who have died this year. The number of people who have died on roads in Cork city and county this year is 41.
It had been raining prior to the accident and investigating gardai in Bandon have appealed to anyone who may have witnessed the accident to contact them at Bandon on 023-41145.