Three die in Wicklow, Limerick crashes

Three people have died on Irish roads this morning following car crashes in Wicklow and Limerick.

Two men died when their car hit another vehicle on the N11 at Ballinameesda in Co Wicklow around 8.40am.

Two other people were injured in the crash which forced the closure of the road. They were brought to St Vincent's University Hospital where they are critically ill.

The N11 has been closed, and diversions have been put in place. AA Roadwatch has warned drivers that there will be major traffic disruption in the area for the next few hours

Southbound traffic is being diverted off the N11 at the Beehive and will travel along the road towards Ballinteskin and from there back onto the N11 just below the Tap. Northbound traffic will divert off the N11 at the Tap and travel along the same diversion route but in the opposite direction.

Elsewhere, a woman in her sixties has died in a Limerick car crash early this morning. The woman, who has not yet been named, died after her car collided with a truck at around 8am on the Limerick bypass at Boraheen.

The Limerick city ring rd has now reopened fully following earlier partial closure, but traffic is still very heavy throughout the city, particularly inbound on the N7 Dublin road and on the N24 Tipperary road.

There were also major delays on Dublin's M50 motorway this morning following an incident on the northbound carriageway, just before the Finglas exit.

Both lanes of the M50 northbound are now back open, but traffic is very heavy and is tailing back to the Toll Plaza. On the southbound carriageway,onlookers are causing delays from the M1 to the Finglas exit; traffic then slows again from the Blanchardstown exit to the toll plaza.

A total of 113 people have been killed on Irish roads so far this year, according to figures from the gardaí. This compares to 129 deaths for the same period in 2006.