The wreckage of one of the vehicles involved in the accident on the Cork-Mallow road on Friday night which claimed three young lives. Photograph: Provision
After another weekend of carnage on the roads, gardai have appealed to motorists to drive carefully today on their return home after the bank holiday.
Seven people died in traffic accidents on the island since last Friday, three of them in a head-on crash in Co Cork.
Gardai fear that changeable weather in some areas today, at the height of the bank holiday traffic, could lead to further accidents.
Another man died taking part in a motorcycle racing event in Co Down on Saturday.
Garda checkpoints will be in operation today on many of the main bank-holiday traffic routes as part of Operation Lifesaver. Under an expansion of the initiative announced last week, the checkpoints will concentrate on vehicle road-worthiness and driver behaviour as well as speeding.
A total of 237 people have died in road traffic accidents so far this year.
According to the Garda in Co Cork, the driver who may have witnessed the accident last Friday in which three young people died near Mallow has contacted them to give his version of events.
The three people who were killed have been named. They were the driver of the Granada, Mr John Mullane (26) from Mallow, who died instantly; his front-seat passenger, Ms Jacinta Magnier (19), from Main Street, Killavullen, Co Cork; and the driver of the van, Mr John Madden (20), from Douglas Road, Cork. His passenger, a Cork man, is being treated for injuries at the Cork University Hospital and is in a stable condition. His name has not been released.
The accident occurred on a stretch of the Cork-Mallow road near the village of Rathduff which has been dubbed a death trap by local people. In recent years 14 people have lost their lives along the stretch. It is now anticipated that extra Garda security cameras will be put in place in an effort to curb speeding on the road.
The 73-year-old man who was killed in a hit-and-run accident near Buncrana, Co Donegal, on Friday night was named yesterday as Mr Joseph Doherty.
He was walking along the road near his home at Drumfries at 7 p.m. when the accident happened. Gardai say a man was subsequently arrested in connection with the incident and a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Darren Martin (23) died on Friday night when his car hit a tree and burst into flames at Cummerstown, near Collinstown, Co Westmeath. The accident happened at about 10.30 p.m. Mr Martin was from the area.
Two people died in separate weekend road accidents on the A2 in Co Down. Mr Samuel Alan Chambers (18) from Annalong, was killed when his car left the road between Rostrevor and Kilkeel.
Mr Jonathan Maxwell (30) died after his car collided with another car on the main Bangor to Belfast road.
Five people were injured in a collision between a car and a minibus near Drogheda around 3 a.m. on Saturday. A unit from Drogheda fire brigade and local gardai and ambulance personnel attended the scene.
The two women and three men were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where two were admitted. A hospital spokeswoman said they were in a comfortable condition yesterday.
Also on Saturday, Mr Philip Conroy (27), Saintfield, Co Down, a contestant in a road race, died when his motorcycle was involved in an accident. It happened during the first lap of a support race in Temple, Co Down. Two other people were injured in the accident.