Gardaí have confirmed that one of the men who died in a motorcycle crash in Co Wicklow yesterday had absconded from Shelton Abbey open prison in Arklow a short time earlier.
John Cunningham a 34-year-old from Tallaght in Dublin, had been serving 18 months for car theft and trespassing and was due for release in a few months time.
He and his pillion passenger died when the motorbike on which they were travelling collided with an unoccupied bus on the N11 north of Arklow.
Both vehicles burst into flames after the impact just after midnight on Friday. The bike had been stolen last month in Sligo.
Meanwhile, Gardaí have released the names of three men who were killed in a road accident in Donegal yesterday.
They were killed when their car struck a bridge near Burnfoot in Co Donegal. Janis Rogis, 21, Maris Valbe, 22, and 19-year-old Danis Sters were all from Latvia and had addresses at Meenaward, Buncrana.
