Three people died in two separate road accidents in Co Cork last night.
A 17-year-old man and a 26-year-old mother-of-one were killed when their cars collided near Little Island on the Midleton to Cork motorway shortly after midnight.
Another man - a passenger in the car driven by the teenager - remains in a serious condition at Cork University Hospital.
It is understood the two men were on their way from Wexford to a car rally in west Cork.
Gardaí in Cobh are investigating the possibility that one of the cars was driving in the wrong direction on the dual carriageway at the time of the crash.
Traffic diversions remain in place locally.
In Mitchelstown, an 18-year-old leaving certificate student died when the seven-seater four-wheel-drive vehicle she was driving overturned and crashed just outside the town shortly before 7pm.
Seven people were in the vehicle at the time of the crash. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
Six others, including the dead woman's 15-year-old brother were taken to Cork University Hospital, but five have since been discharged following treatment.
The sixth, a teenage girl, remains in a stable condition there after suffering head and eye injuries.
The dead woman has been named as Ruth Gorey, from Kilbehenny, Co Cork.
She was one of three children and a student at Presentation College in Mitchelstown.
