A 32-year-old man was killed last night when the car he was driving crashed into a wall in Co Cork.
The crash happened at 10.55pm on Rochestown Road, Ardmore, Passage West. No other vehicles were involved. The victim was later named as Lee McNamara of Pembroke Wood, Passage West.
In Cork city, gardaí have launched a criminal investigation after a 65-year-old pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run.
The body of the man, named as Finbarr Walsh from Connolly Road, Ballyphehane, Cork, was discovered by gardaí near the entrance to Mount Desert nursing home on the Lee Road on the northwestern outskirts of the city at about 5.30pm.
Gardaí had been alerted after they received a number of phone calls from passing motorists who had seen the man walking in the area and had been concerned for his welfare. Mr Walsh was pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor.
Separately, a man was seriously injured in a crash in Co Mayo this morning. The man was driving a car with four passengers on the Ballina Road near Crossmolina when it crashed at about 2am. No other vehicle was involved. The passengers in the car were not seriously injured.
A total of 398 people have died on the State's roads in 2005, compared to 374 last year, making this year the worst since 2001.
