Woman (50) dies, three hurt in Donegal crash

A 50-year-old woman has become the fifth person to die on the State's roads since yesterday morning.

The woman was the front seat passenger in a car which was involved in a head-on collision with a four-wheel drive vehicle on the Lifford to Letterkenny road in Co Donegal. Three other people were taken to Letterkenny hospital after the crash which happened at Ballyholey, Raphoe at 12.40 p.m.

The dead woman has not yet been named. Earlier, gardaí named four people who died in three separate crashes yesterday.

Two men - both aged 21 - were killed in Co Longford when their car left the road and struck a pole at 10 p.m. last night. Mr Ronan Brady from Bunlahy, Granard, Co Longford was driving when the crash happened near the village of Moydow, south of Longford town. The car's passenger Mr Ciaran Kelly, Kilnacarrow, Ballinalee, Co Longford, also died.

In Co Roscommon, 22-year-old Mr Niall Dempsey from The Walk, Roscommon, died when his car hit a tree at Fairymount, Kilrooskey just after midnight last night. The male passenger in the car was injured in the accident.

In Co Louth Ms Jane Smith (37) from Whitehouse Cross, Dromiskin, was killed when her car crashed into a ditch near Dromisken, early yesterday morning. There was no other vehicle involved in the incident.The latest series of crashes brings the total number of fatalities for the year so far to 162, according to Garda statistics. This is 22 less than the total at the same time last year.