Two fatal road accidents in Co Tipperary yesterday pushed the number of deaths on Irish roads this year to 142.
The first crash occurred on the N-7 at Clonalea, Toomevara, approximately half a mile outside Toomevara village at 9.30 a.m. when a car collided with an oncoming truck after the driver attempted to overtake a mini-bus.
A little girl was orphaned when her father was killed in the traffic accident, just 18 months after her mother died in a similar road tragedy.
He was named last night as Mr Franz Blazer (36). He died instantly in the head-on collision.
In January 2002, Mr Blazer, from Annacotty in Limerick, was seriously injured in a crash in Lanzarote which claimed the life of his daughter's mother and his partner Valerie Downey.
Yesterday his daughter, Alyssa - who is aged nine - was being looked after by her grandparents Mr Brendan and Mrs Lorna Downey.
Mr Blazer's mother, Tess, was on holidays in Portugal with her daughter Sandra (29) when news of the tragedy broke.
Gardaí said the collision happened on a straight stretch of road. A spokesman described driving conditions as "excellent" at the time of the accident.
Another fatal accident in which a woman in her 50s died happened on the N-8 at Noard between Littleton and Urlingford at 11.15 a.m. yesterday.
The accident occurred when the woman's jeep, which was involved in a collision with another car, careered into a lorry.
The woman, who is local, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, while the driver of the lorry was treated for minor injuries and shock at Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel.
Yesterday's fatalities bring the number of people killed on Irish roads to 142 this year. This is 18 less than at the same time in 2002.
However, the accidents bring the number of deaths on Tipperary's roads this year to 17, one more than last year's number of road deaths in the county.
Including yesterday's Tipperary accidents, five people have died on Irish roads over the past week.