Four young people who died in a fatal road collision in Tipperary last night have been named locally.
24-year-old Luke McSweeney, his younger sister Grace, Nicole Murphy and Zoey Coffey, all aged 18 lost their lives in the tragic incident on the Mountain Road in Clonmel at approximately 7:30 pm last night.
The four young people were all from the Clonmel area.
The three teenage girls had collected their Leaving Cert results yesterday morning and were travelling to celebrate their results with friends.
One of the teenagers was a student at the Loreto school in Clonmel, while the other two teenagers had attended the Presentation secondary school.
In a statement, the principal of the Presentation in Clonmel said "No words can express our sorrow, pain, and grief. Zoey and Grace were two beautiful students loved by everyone who met them."
The principal of the Loreto school paid tribute to Nicole Murphy; "During her time in Loreto, she developed into a young woman who was kind, gentle and witty and she was a trusted and loyal friend."
Both the schools, as well as the CBS High School in the town will be open today to provide support to the community.
In a statement, President Michael D. Higgins expressed his condolences to the families:
The hearts of all parents and relatives, indeed the whole community, will have gone out to the families of Zoey Coffey, Nicole Murphy and Luke and Grace McSweeney, who lost their lives in a traffic accident in Co Tipperary last night. The grief that has been expressed by the community is nearly unbearable and I send my deepest sympathies to their families, their whole community, those in their year in school and the whole school, it's pupils and management.
It's believed the car in which they were travelling skidded in wet conditions and hit a wall causing it to flip over.
Sympathies from the Clonmel community and beyond have poured in for the families of the young people, including from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Táiniste Michéal Martin.
Minister for Education Norma Foley said her department will provide essential support to staff and students through the National Educational Psychological Service.
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