'Heart-wrenching': Two teens killed in crash on way to Debs ball as three other people injured
Gardaí at the scene of the collision in Co Monaghan. Picture: Philip Fitzpatrick
Two teenage girls were killed and a further three people injured in a road traffic collision in Co Monaghan on Monday evening.
The two girls, who were aged 16 and 17, were passengers in the car.
It is understood some of those involved in the accident were travelling to a secondary school debs ball at the time of the accident.
The incident occurred on the N54 in Legnakelly, on the Clones to Smithborough Road, at around 6.45pm on Monday.
It is understood that all five people were travelling in the same vehicle.
Gardaí said that three people had been taken to hospital, two of whom are in critical condition.
Gardaí added that the bodies of the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were removed from the scene to Monaghan General Hospital, with post-mortem examinations to take place on Tuesday.
An 18-year-old woman and the 60-year-old male driver of the car are in critical condition in hospital while an 18-year-old man is receiving treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
The two 18-year-olds were taken to Cavan General Hospital for treatment.
The 60-year-old was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
The road was closed overnight.
Local councillor Richard Truell told the PA news agency: “It’s tragic, the community is shocked.
“Our thoughts and prayers have to go to their families.”
Cavan-Monaghan TD Matt Carthy said it was “horrendous, heart-wrenching” news and said the prayers of everyone in Co Monaghan are with the families affected.
“A moment of joy and celebration for these young people has turned into a lifetime of devastation for those who loved them,” he said on Twitter.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Pat Treanor said the "absolute horror" that had unfolded was heartbreaking for everyone in the area.
Mr Treanor said that earlier in the evening young people going to the Debs had gathered in the Diamond for photographs and to meet their friends. They had all been excited, but an hour later there were helicopters in the air and the sound of sirens and then word of a serious accident came through.
It is understood that the teens involved had been students at Largy College in Clones which has a large catchment area of 8km to 10km around the town.
“I suppose, there’s fear. People are just waiting to hear who exactly is involved in this tragedy, but they are fearful,” he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Largy College opened last night to provide support for students.
“We can only imagine how traumatised the other students and pupils in the college, the teachers and all of the parents are this morning. And I know last night the college opened to provide support and I believe the Debs was called off to receive the buses back from the Debs.”
The local youth club in Clones was opened on Monday night to offer support to students. Members of Youth Work Ireland were on hand last night to provide support for young people in the Clones area returning from the cancelled Debs.
Caolan Fox, director of the service in Cavan-Monaghan told RTÉ radio that people were "struggling to get their heads around the tragedy".
Mr Fox said it was “so cruel” what had happened. His team had been speaking with teachers at the school last night, one of whom had pointed out that this group of young people had missed out on so much through Covid. There had been a lot of joy in the preparations for the Debs, a sense of “letting loose” that had ended in the “saddest possible way”.
The crash was the second fatal incident on Irish roads on Monday.
At 10.40am yesterday in Co Tipperary, a van driver was killed after a collision with an articulated truck.
It happened on the N24 between Barne Lodge and Condon’s Cross.
Emergency services were called and the van driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The road was closed for a technical examination by forensic investigators, and gardaí appealed for any witnesses to come forward.
They are particularly interested in speaking to anyone who was travelling the road between 10am and 10.45am and may have camera footage.
Earlier in July, there were six deaths over the course of one weekend prompting the Road Safety Authority to raise serious concerns.
In Mayo, Ciaran Keating, the brother of former Boyzone singer Ronan Keating and father of Cork City FC footballer Ruairi Keating, died in a two-vehicle crash near on the N5 near Ballymiles on Saturday.
Mr Keating and his wife Anne Marie, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, had been travelling to Sligo to watch their son play against Sligo Rovers.
There were also fatal incidents in Sligo, Donegal and Tipperary over the same weekend.
RSA chair Liz O’Donnell said: “We’re very concerned that we’re going in the wrong direction in terms of fatal crashes.” Ms O’Donnell added that some counties were seeing more crashes than others, singling out Cork, Mayo and Galway.
In recent weeks, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has issued a statement noting it is "very concerned" at the rise in road deaths on Irish roads in the year to date.
As of July 28, the most recent stats published by gardaí, 96 people had lost their lives on Irish roads.
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