TWENTY people were injured in three separate accidents last night. Gardai believe bad weather may have been a factor in all three.
In Co Kilkenny, 13 people were taken to hospital following two separate accidents. In Dublin, seven people had to be cut from a minibus when a tree fell on the vehicle in Castleknock.
Meanwhile, the stormy and wet weather, which has seriously disrupted the fishing industry, is to continue today.
The winds are expected to be particularly strong in the west and north west, with gusts of up to 80 mph. "These could cause damage," a spokesman for Met Eireann warned last night. There would also be strong winds in Munster and Leinster.
The first road accident occurred shortly before 8.30 p.m. on the main Kilkenny to Clonmel road at Killamery, when two cars collided head on. Eight people were involved and two had to be cut from the cars.
Five people were injured in the second incident, including two children. It happened at a junction on the road between Callan and Callan Golf Club at about 10 p.m. The injured were taken to St Luke Hospital in Kilkenny.
A hospital spokeswoman said last night three of those involved in the first crash were in the intensive care unit, but were stable. Two had been transferred to Waterford Regional Hospital. The others were not been seriously injured, she said. The five other injured people were still being treated late last night but it is believed none were seriously injured.
Meanwhile, high winds are believed to have caused the tree to fall in Castleknock, trapping seven people in a mini bus. It took Dublin Fire Brigade, using cutting equipment, almost two hours to free the adult occupants of the vehicle. A crane had to be called to the scene to assist in the rescue.
According to a Garda spokesman, the two most seriously injured were taken to St James's Hospital while the remaining passengers were taken to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown.
A Garda spokesman said the accident happened near the train station between Castleknock and Blanchardstown around 11.30 pm. He said there were strong gusts of wind at the time.
In Co Wicklow, a man in his thirties died following a traffic accident yesterday at about 1 p.m. at Dunlavin. It involved a jeep and a car. According to a Garda spokesman, the driver of the car and passengers were taken to Naas General Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, and Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. He said their injuries were not life threatening.
The severe weather has resulted in about 1,000 workers in the fish processing industry been laid off in Donegal. "The boats here have not been to sea in the past two weeks," the chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation, Mr Joey Murrin, said last night.
Mr Murrin said those in ancillary services were also out of work. "From that point of view, I think the estimate of 1,000 is conservative.
In his area, mackerel fishing was the big job creator, he said. An estimated 55,000 tons of mackerel were required annually, with an estimated 35,000 tons needed in the spring. "We have only 16,000 tons caught so far."
Meanwhile, a passenger ferry was damaged but its crew unhurt in an accident on the River Shannon at the weekend. Having first struck a Bord na Mona bridge, the Shannon Princess later hit the bridge which spans the Shannon at Lanesboro.