A 16-year-old girl was still in a critical condition in hospital last night after a crash in thick fog in Co Laois which left her brother and cousin dead and brought the death toll on the roads in the past week to 13. The number of people who have lost their lives in road accidents this year stands at 319.
Ms Amanda Hennessy, from Crettyard, Co Carlow, is being treated in the intensive care unit at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, and remains on the critical list. Her brother, John (18), and her cousin, Mr Paul Hennessy (16), from Ballickmoyler, died in the accident which happened on a straight stretch of road near Abbeyleix at around 5.30 a.m. on Saturday.
The 22-year-old man who died when his car was in collision with a lorry on the Kells to Virginia road in Co Cavan on Friday has been named as Mr Niall McNamee, from Virigina.