The loss of three young lives in the space of less than 24 hours has brought devastation and heartbreak to their families and the wider community.
Yesterday morning, two 17-year-olds became the latest victims of the horrific toll of death on our roads. The teenage boys died after their car left the road and struck a tree near Markethill, Co Armagh, around 8.30am. Another teenage passenger was injured.
The three boys, all students at Southern Regional College in Armagh, were on their way to a skills competition in Portadown. It is not yet clear what caused the Vauxhall car they were travelling in to crash with such dreadful consequences.
Brian Doran, chief executive of the college, said the two students who died were `great characters' who had shared a close bond throughout their school years.
This awful tragedy came just a day after six-year-old Joshua Kelly lost his life after being knocked down by a car on Scrabo Road in Newtownards on Wednesday afternoon.
The child was a P3 pupil at St Finian's Primary School in the town where the principal, Barry Coulter, described him as a ``beautiful, kind little boy.''
The loss of three young people with their whole lives ahead of them makes these fatalities especially poignant.
Sadly, there has been a series of tragic collisions involving youngsters in recent weeks.
Ella Trainor, aged six, died following a three-vehicle crash near Newry on January 9 while seven-year-old Jackson Turner was fatally injured on December 26 in Newtownabbey in a collision which left another seven people hurt.
Last year also saw crashes which resulted in multiple fatalities involving young people.
It is a distressing toll and should make each one of us think carefully about safety every time we set off on a road journey, no matter how short.
The level of road deaths in Northern Ireland is already too high and this year has got off to the worst possible start.
