The 115km long N80, which runs from Offaly to Wexford, has claimed the lives of not only the five young people this year and last, but several other people over the past decade

The road remains closed at the scene, which is preserved pending a technical examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators.

John Mr Kirby was found lying on a roadway in Austin, Texas, with serious head injuries in the early hours of last Saturday morning.

The 18-year-old man was taken to hospital after a crash in the Antrim Road area of north Belfast.