Three men in their 20s died after a two-car collision outside Carlow town early yesterday morning.
Two of the men were from Ukraine and one from France. They died at the scene of the crash at about 4.15am, just inside the Co Kildare border and about three miles outside Carlow town on the N9 road to Castledermot.
A fourth man, also Ukrainian, in the German-registered left-hand-drive Ford Mondeo car was injured but able to communicate briefly to gardaí who arrived on the scene. He was taken to St Luke's hospital in Kilkenny with injuries described as "serious but not life-threatening" and was later moved to Waterford Regional Hospital. Gardaí hope to speak to him later this week through an interpreter.
Supt Pat Kavanagh at Garda District HQ in Co Carlow said it appeared the car, travelling north, collided with a Mercedes while trying to overtake a truck.
The driver of the Mercedes was injured and also taken to hospital in Kilkenny where he is said to be in a stable condition with a broken hip. Paul Quinlan, a 42-year-old musician, was returning alone from work in Cavan to his home in the Milford area of Co Carlow.
The remains of the three men who died were taken to Naas General Hospital where postmortems will be held this afternoon.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said consular assistance was a matter for the relevant embassies. Gardaí received assistance from the Ukrainian and French embassies in Dublin to identify the men.
A spokesman for the French embassy said yesterday evening that the parents of the French national who had died had already been contacted.
The Ukrainian embassy's efforts to contact next-of-kin were hampered by eve-of-holiday preparations in Ukraine. Today is Victory Day throughout the former Soviet Bloc. It is understood that one of the Ukrainian men who died was married.
None of the men were named by gardaí but all are reported to have lived in Co Kildare and worked in the horseracing industry at well-known stud farms in Straffan, Caragh and Naas. Gardaí investigating the crash said the men may have been travelling to work at the time but do not know why they had been in the Carlow area.
They have been contacted by the driver of a third car who witnessed the crash and have also identified the truck which was on the road at the time.
Gardaí said weather and road conditions were poor following "torrential rain".
