Four funerals are currently being organised for the four young people who sadly died in the crash last weekend in Dundalk.
Funerals will take place in Ardee, Drumcondrath and Carrickmacross, while Chloe Hipson will be repatriated to Scotland.
Local priests have said there is a “sense of devastation” and “palpable grief” in Co Louth after a crash over the weekend claimed the lives of five young people.
Prayers were offered in St Joseph’s Church in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, where Monsignor Shane McCaughey told parishioners that the community was weighed down by a deep sadness, reports RTE.
Two of the five young people who died were from the Carrickmacross area.
Gardaí are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the collision, which also left three others in hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, reports RTE.
Prayers were also said for the recovery of those hurt and for the first responders who attended the scene.
The stretch of road on Ardee Road at Gibstown in Dundalk remained sealed off overnight, with local diversions in place as forensic collision investigators resumed their work there today, reports RTE.
The vehicles involved have now been removed, and post-mortem examinations are expected to take place in the coming days.
All five victims had been travelling in a Volkswagen Golf that collided with a Toyota Land Cruiser on the Ardee Road shortly after 9pm on Saturday night, reports RTE.
They have been named as 23-year-old Chloe McGee from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan; 23-year-old Alan McCluskey from Drumconrath, Co Meath; 23-year-old Dylan Commins from Ardee, Co Louth; 21-year-old Shay Duffy from Carrickmacross; and 21-year-old Chloe Hipson from Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Earlier, Msgr McCaughey said there was “palpable grief” throughout the communities affected.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said: “There is just a sense of devastation, this palpable grief that is right across our communities this morning, yesterday,” reports RTE.
“It has just been a terrible experience for the families involved,” he said.
Monsignor McCaughey, who knows the McGee family personally, described them as “salt of the earth.”
“I spent some time with them yesterday afternoon and evening. I have to say this it was the first time that I actually witnessed a family collapsing,” he said, reports RTE.
He said that when the family saw their daughter’s photo on the Six One News, “you could actually see a family collapsing in front of you”.
“It was the most terrible experience to witness such unrelenting grief. A cry from the heart of parents and siblings and friends who were with us in the house at that stage,” he said, reports RTE.
Monsignor McCaughey said Ms McGee had achieved “such a huge success of her life.”
“She really, really stuck hard at it and she achieved her dream to be a teacher,” he added.
The principal of the school where she taught said pupils had been left in “incredible shock.”
Padraig McGovern of Ó Fiaich College in Dundalk told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster: “To think that we’re going to school today and she won’t be there is an incredible shock,” reports RTE.
“And to convey that to students, to young people who find it difficult to process something, or even more difficult than we do, is just a major challenge.”
‘Grief beyond description’ is how one local priest described the impact on the community after the fatal Dundalk crash.
Fr Finian Connaughton, parish priest of Drumconrath, said he knew Mr McCluskey and his family extremely well.
Speaking on the same programme, he said: “I would have known Alan from his very earliest days – given him his first Communion, Confirmation, and I know the family, a very regular attender at church, it would have to be said,” reports RTE.
“Alan and his family are very much involved here in the parish, so it was devastation to hear that news.”
Fr Connaughton said he was aware of how deeply the community was mourning, but noted that the McCluskeys were one of five families suffering identical heartbreak, reports RTE.
“I’d offer my condolences and sympathy to them, but our community here, absolutely it is beyond description the sense of grief that is around,” he added.
He described the area as a “very close-knit community” and said the McCluskey family were extremely “community-minded.”
He said: “There are very few things going in the community centre that the McCluskeys are not involved in. I know community will rally round at this time, as they’ve done in the past,” reports RTE.
The group of friends, which included a couple, were believed to have been travelling to meet others socially when the crash occurred.
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Another man in his 20s who had been in the Volkswagen Golf was taken to hospital in Drogheda with injuries that are not life-threatening, reports RTE.
The two occupants of the Toyota Land Cruiser, also a man and a woman in their 20s, were taken to the same hospital and are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
After examinations at the scene by State Pathologist Linda Mulligan, both vehicles were removed to a secure location shortly after 6pm yesterday, reports RTE.
Tributes have been paid to Scottish student Chloe Hipson, who moved to Ireland for further studies after graduating from South Lanarkshire College in East Kilbride.
She was a second-year Quantity Surveying student at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), reports RTE.
DkIT President Dr Diarmuid O’Callaghan said the college was heartbroken and noted that many of those affected had strong links with the institution.
Mr Duffy had recently completed phase six of a Plumbing Apprenticeship, and Ms McGee had worked with DkIT on the TY Entrepreneurship Programme, reports RTE.
Dr O’Callaghan also extended condolences to the families and friends of Mr Cluskey and Mr Commins.
A book of condolence for Ms Hipson has been opened at DkIT, reports RTE.
A number of amateur football clubs in Lanarkshire have also paid tribute to her.
North Motherwell FC, where her brother Ryan was a long-time player, announced they would hold a minute’s silence.
The club wrote: “Ryan you and your family have always held a special place in the hearts of everyone at NMFC and are very much still part of our football family, I am sure everyone will join me in sending our deepest condolences to you, Toni, Ryan, wee Tommy and all your family at this life-shattering time,” reports RTE.
Bellshill Amateurs FC also posted a tribute online: “The club was devastated today to learn of the passing of Chloe Hipson, the younger sister of our own Ryan Hipson.
“Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies are with Ryan and his family at this incredibly difficult time. Before our game on Saturday, we will show our respects to Chloe with a minute’s applause prior to kick-off.”
Friends also shared memories online, with one calling her “absolutely one of a kind, the funniest, most gorgeous girl in the land,” reports RTE.
Mr Duffy and Mr McCluskey were former students of Patrician High School in Carrickmacross, while Ms McGee spent a year there completing teacher training.
The school issued a tribute saying they would be “remembered fondly by all who knew them during their time at our school, and their loss is felt profoundly by staff, students, and the wider school community,” reports RTE.
They added: “Chloe made a lasting impression on our school and students through her dedication and warmth, and we are deeply saddened by this news.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and friends affected by this heartbreaking event. We stand in solidarity with you during this time of grief and offer our deepest sympathies.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the country was in shock and numb at the scale of the tragedy and the profound impact on the families and friends of the five young people.
Speaking in Co Kerry, Mr Martin said: “It’s very, very difficult to comprehend such loss and at such scale in our community.
“We think of all those who are suffering and bereaved today,” reports RTE.
The Taoiseach also paid tribute to first responders who witnessed “absolutely shocking and traumatic scenes.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families,” Mr Martin said, adding that “those young people were going for a night out… and that it was cruelly extinguished in that manner is very hard to comprehend.”
Superintendent Charlie Armstrong from Dundalk Garda Station described the scene as “difficult” and praised the professionalism of all the emergency services who attended, reports RTE.
Speaking on Morning Ireland he said: “It was a difficult scene, the weather conditions were adverse, it was a dark night, wet and windy and again I’d like to commend the professionalism of all services that attended there.”
Supt Armstrong said first responders often encounter “things that you can’t unsee – the uniform is not a shield for that.”
He said officers who had attended the scene finished duty at 7am yesterday and returned to work later that night, reports RTE.
He added that while they were given the option to be replaced, they chose to continue their duties.
Family liaison officers have been appointed to support those affected.
A senior investigating officer has taken charge of the case at Dundalk Garda Station, and an incident room has been set up, reports RTE.
“We will be investigating all circumstances in relation to the road traffic collision… vehicles have been removed from the scene, and we are currently conducting a search.”
The forensic collision investigators have examined the site, but the Garda inquiry remains ongoing.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who saw the crash or who may have dash-cam footage from the area between 8.30pm and 9.15pm on Saturday to contact Dundalk Garda Station, the Garda Confidential Line, or any garda station, reports RTE.
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