Seven people, four of them teenagers, were killed in road accidents in the Republic and in Northern Ireland at the weekend.
Two young people from Co Donegal died when their car struck a pole near Clonmany at 3.15 a.m. yesterday. Mr Sean McBride (18), from Carndonagh, and Ms Clare Doherty (17), from Culdaff, were killed in the accident, which occurred at the townland of Rasheeny.
An accident in Co Mayo claimed the lives of another pair of teenagers. Mr John Kenny (18), from Ballyhaunis, and Ms Ciara Follaird (17), from Aughamore, were killed when their car hit a concrete rail on the road from Kilkelly to Knock.
Another young woman was injured in the accident, which occurred at 4 a.m. yesterday. She was taken to Castlebar General Hospital, where her injuries were said not to be life-threatening.
In Abbeyfeale West, Co Limerick, a local man, Mr Donal Fitzgerald (75), died after he was struck by a van while walking home from evening Mass on Saturday. The driver of a van was later arrested under Section 49 of the Road Traffic Act which covers driving under the influence of alcohol. He was subsequently released and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
In the North, police were yesterday questioning a man in his 30s about a hit-and-run accident which left a five-year-old dead and her mother seriously injured.
Rachel Patricia Ritchie, of Parkview Terrace, Belfast, was crossing the road with her mother at Bray Street in the Woodvale estate in west Belfast at about 9 p.m. on Saturday when they were struck by a dark-coloured vehicle, believed to be a LandRover, which failed to stop. Police detained a vehicle nearby which was taken away for forensic examination. mother and daughter were taken to hospital, but the child died of her injuries. The mother was being treated for leg injuries in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
Meanwhile, the man killed in a two-car collision in Wicklow on Friday has been named. Mr Joseph Lenahan (31) was travelling between Arklow and Woodenbridge when his car collided with another vehicle. Four people travelling in the other car were treated in St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, on Friday night.
