Gardaí have appealed to road users to take greater care following a number of fatal and serious injury road traffic collisions during the Christmas holidays.
An Garda Síochána said with hazardous road conditions expected over the coming days, motorists should slow down and drive at the right speed for the conditions.
The gardaí said: "Never drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol and always wear your seatbelt. A number of families are missing their loved ones over the Christmas holidays. Please take care and play your part in ensuring more families do not receive the same devastating news."
It comes as the number of people who have lost their lives in road traffic accidents so far this year rose to 132, following several deaths over the last two days.
This includes four people who died in four separate collisions yesterday and St Stephen's Day.
One of the collisions, between a car and a bicycle, resulted in the death of a cyclist in his 80s, bringing to seven the number of cyclists killed on Irish roads this year.
There have also been 50 deaths on the roads in Northern Ireland to date, including three men in their 20s who lost their lives when a car and a lorry collided in the early hours of Monday morning in Co Tyrone.
Tyrone GAA club @BeraghGAA pays tribute to 2 former youth players who died in horrific crash yesterday @rtenews https://t.co/2X7X1JvBu4
— Vincent Kearney (@vincekearney) December 28, 2021
A man in his 30s died in Co Wicklow following a collision between a bus and a car last night on the southbound carriageway of the M11 between junction 16 and 17 at Rathnew.
That section of the road is currently closed while forensic collision investigators examine the scene.
Separately, a man died following a two-car collision in Co Mayo yesterday evening. He was a passenger in one of the vehicles.
A number of other occupants in the crash vehicles were also injured.
Another man in his early 20s died following a two-car collision in Co Wexford on St Stephen's Day, while a woman in her 50s was seriously injured.
The year with the least amount of deaths on record was 2018, when the Road Safety Authority recorded 137 road fatalities.
Ireland's worst year for road traffic fatalities since records began was 1972, when 640 people died.
In August this year, 24 people died in road traffic accidents.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Tributes paid to Tyrone crash victims
GAA clubs in Co Tyrone have paid tribute to the three young men who died in a crash early yesterday morning.
The men, all aged in their 20s, were killed after their car was involved in a collision with an articulated lorry.
A fourth young man in the car was taken to hospital and treated for serious injuries.
In a tweet, Beragh Red Knights said two of those who died, Nathan Corrigan and Peter McNamee, were past youth members of the club. It also extended its sympathies to the family of Peter Finnegan.
"Words are hard to find to express the sadness of the local community about the heartbreaking events of Monday morning," it said.
Another club, Clogher Éire Ógs, posted a message on its Facebook page saying it had received communication from the family of Peter Finnegan on "the untimely and tragic death of their beloved son and brother".
St Ciaran's College, in Ballygawley, extended its deepest sympathies to the families of past pupils Nathan Corrigan and Peter Finnegan, and to the family of Peter McNamee.
