Four people including a girl of 21 months have been killed in three separate road incidents on both sides of the Border.
Two friends were killed and a third left seriously injured when their car crashed into a tree on a rural road in Co Sligo.
Declan McCormack, 22, and 20-year-old Eoin Kelly were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on the Ballyfarnan to Sligo Road at Sooey, Co Sligo, late last night.
Gardai in Sligo said one man from Riverstown, and his front seat passenger from nearby Greaghnafarna on the Leitrim/Sligo border died instantly, while a 21-year-old rear seat passenger remains in a stable condition in Sligo General hospital.
Riverstown parish priest Father Ab O’Shea was called to the scene of the crash and said attending any road accident that causes death or serious injury is horrific.
“They were three friends, young fellas in their early 20s who hung around together and enjoyed life together,” he said.
“They had enjoyed their life up to this. They went off the road. It was simply an accident.
“To all the family members who are so distressed at the moment and broken by what they have experienced, myself, my colleagues, the gardai and all of the people in the area are devastated for them.
“We are here to support them whatever way possible and to help them through the tragedy over the next few days.”
Elsewhere, a 21-month-old girl died in hospital after she was hit by a car in Ardmore Walk estate in Tallaght, south Dublin, at around 5.30pm yesterday.
The driver of the car was not injured and gardai are interviewing family members and neighbours about the tragic accident in the cul de sac.
Police in the north named a 17-year-old who died in a two-car collision as Keelan Mullan.
The teenager, from the Drumsurn area of Limavady, suffered fatal injuries when his car, a silver Renault Clio, was in collision with a tractor on Drumsurn Road near the junction with the Cloghan Road at around 10.20am yesterday.
The PSNI have appealed for anyone who saw the collision or either of the vehicles involved in the minutes prior to the collision to come forward.
PA