23-year-old woman celebrating landing dream job d!es in car accident

Five young adults in their 20s have been killed in a devastating two-vehicle collision near Dundalk, Co Louth, on Saturday night, in what authorities described as one of the worst road tragedies in recent years.

The victims were named as Chloe McGee, 23, Shay Duffy, 21, both from Carrickmacross; Alan McCluskey, 23, and Dillon Commins, 23, both from Drumconrath; and Chloe Hipson, 21, from Lanarkshire, Scotland. All were travelling in a Volkswagen Golf that collided with a Toyota Land Cruiser shortly after 9pm, before the Golf burst into flames.

It has emerged that McGee, a woodwork and graphics teacher at the Ó Fiaich Institute of Further Education in Dundalk, had recently secured a permanent teaching position and had been celebrating the milestone before the crash. The school confirmed her death in a message to staff and students, describing her as a “brilliant young teacher”.

Ó Fiaich principal Padraig McGovern said securing the job had been “a big thing” for McGee and that the school community is “shocked and heartbroken”.

Weather conditions were described as poor at the time of the crash, with Fianna Fáil councillor Shane McGuinness noting the road’s lack of public lighting and dangerous bends. Emergency services who responded to the scene found the Golf engulfed in flames, with all five occupants already deceased.

A sixth young man who was also in the Golf remains in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The couple travelling in the Land Cruiser, both in their 20s, were also taken to hospital but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Superintendent Armstrong said the tragedy will have a “deep impact” on the affected communiti