Ten children were left fatherless following Monday night's traffic accident on the main Dublin-Belfast road which claimed the lives of six people, all under 30 years of age. Two of the dead were just 16 years old. The teenage girls were passengers in a blue Vauxhall car which collided head-on with a truck just before 11 p.m. at Killineer, two miles north of Drogheda in Co Louth.
They were Ms Sarah Jane McKenna, Rathmullen, Drogheda and Ms Brenda O'Rourke, Moneymore, Drogheda.
The driver of the car was Mr Anthony O'Brien (27) of Rathmullen Park who was married with five children.
His front-seat passenger was a neighbour Mr Daniel Johnson (26) who was also married and had four children.
The fourth passenger was Mr Albert Wilson (26) of Ballsgrove who lived at home with his father.
All were killed instantly when the Vauxhall Astra crashed underneath the front cab of a newly registered truck en route to Dundalk. The car was travelling southwards towards Drogheda but ended up on the other side of the road.
The truck was driven by Mr John Myres (26) of Castletown, Dundalk who was married with a young daughter. He was also killed outright. There were no survivors in either vehicle. All the bodies were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda where post-mortems were carried out.
Gardai in Drogheda yesterday confirmed they received a report from a member of the public concerning dangerous driving approximately 15 minutes before the accident occurred.
The complaint said that a car, fitting the description of the one involved in the accident, had been seen driving in a dangerous manner at George's Street, Drogheda, which is at the start of the road leading from the town to Dundalk and Belfast.
Yesterday gardai also received a number of reported sightings, apparently of the same car driving in a manner that concerned them, earlier on Monday. It is understood that a patrol car as well as a unit involved in Operation Lifesaver were dispatched to look for the vehicle and were in the process of doing this when they came upon the accident.
Insp Vincent Rowan, of Drogheda, who was also at the location early yesterday said: "When we arrived at the scene of the accident we found the car was embedded in the front of the lorry. It was a scene of carnage, not anything anyone would like to see."
Insp Rowan also appealed for any witnesses to the accident to contact gardai at Drogheda 04138777.
Drogheda's mayor, Mr Tommy Murphy said: "I am shocked. I am very sad and the town is sad. I sympathise with their families, I don't think they will ever get over it.'
A local priest, Father David Bradley, said all the bereaved families were being supported by neighbours and friends. Monsignor Francis Donnolly, who visited the home of Brenda O'Rourke, said: "It is just an unspeakable tragedy".
Operation Lifesaver will continue despite the tragedy. It was set up last Monday week in an effort to reduce the number of serious and fatal road traffic accidents in the Garda division of Louth-Meath.
Insp Rowan said: "This merely strengthens our resolve to ensure the success of Operation Lifesaver. It will strengthen our dedication to reduce carnage on the roads. This is part of the reason why Operation Lifesaver has been set up. We will continue with Operation Lifesaver because we have to reduce fatalities like this on our roads.
"At the time of the accident we had one patrol car approximately seven to eight miles north of the accident scene. We had another patrol car south, in the Drogheda area, approximately three miles away. We don't think they passed through a checkpoint before they reached the accident scene," he added.
This was the second tragedy to hit the family of Sarah Jane McKenna. In February of last year her sister Amanda (21) was sentenced to five years in prison after she pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her 21-month-old son Jim.
He died from burns after she and her partner Michael Cunningham set fire to their home in Leeds in 1994 in a bid to get compensation from an insurance company.
Leeds Crown Court sentenced Cunningham to seven years. Both admitted manslaughter and grievous bodily harm.