A teenage girl killed in a suspected hit-and-run in Navan, Co Meath, on Saturday has been named locally as Mia Lily Keogh O’Keeffe.
The 16-year-old was one of seven people to be killed on roads across the island of Ireland on Saturday.
Her father, Stephen O’Keeffe, said she was walking their family dog before she and the animalwere killed after being struck by a driver who failed to remain at the scene.
In a post on social media, he said his heart is “smashed” and he is “broken”, before pleading with any witnesses to come forward to gardaí.
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The 16-year-old, who was understood to be a student at Loreto Secondary School in Navan, was struck by a car on the Slane Road (N51) at around 8.20pm. The car failed to remain at the scene.
The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, was later arrested in connection with the investigation. His vehicle was seized by gardaí for technical and forensic examination.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor and Navan’s mayor, Padraig Fitzsimons, described the fatal collision as a “terrible tragedy”.
“The whole community is affected. The rebound effect is on everybody: her schoolmates, her family, her friends. My heart just goes out to her parents and her family. There’s no words,” he said.
“She was just out for a walk, such an everyday thing to do, and to not come home is just terrible.”
Separately, a man and woman, both aged in their 40s, were killed in a two-vehicle collision in Tramore, Co Waterford.
The crash, involving their car and a van, occurred at midday on the Tramore Road (R675) at Robin Hill.
The pair, a couple living understood to be living in Co Kildare who have two children, were pronounced deceased at the scene, with local Fine Gael councillor Lola O’Sullivan saying the community has been left “devastated” by the fatal crash.
The man has since been named locally as Brian Frisby.
The occupants of the van, a man aged in his 50s and a juvenile boy, were taken to University Hospital Waterford for treatment of injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.
At around 8.15pm on Saturday night, in Co Galway, gardaí and emergency services responded to a fatal single-vehicle collision at Rooaun, Eyrecourt.
A woman in her 80s, who was the driver and sole occupant of the car, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
In all cases, gardaí are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Meanwhile, a further three people were killed and four more injured following a three-vehicle collision in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on Saturday night.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed two men and a woman were pronounced deceased at the scene of the crash on the Armagh Road area of Moy.
They have been named locally as father-of-four Conor Quinn (31), from Derrylaughan, Laura Hoy (23), a mother of one from Cookstown, and John Guy, a father of six living in Keady and originally from Dublin.
Three of the four injured were still receiving medical treatment on Sunday.
Saturday’s fatal collisions bring to 22 the number of road fatalities in the Republic so far this year, according to Garda figures.
Most fatalities have been drivers (11), followed by pedestrians (8), and passengers (3).
