'Sleep tight Cathal, I love you', as tributes are paid to 18-year-old Cathal McCrory who sadly passes away following a road traffic collision in county Down

Cathal McCrory from Dromore passed away from his injuries after the collision occurred on the Tanvally Road in the early hours of Saturday morning (November 18).

Mr McCrory was a front seat passenger in the vehicle, with the driver and a back seat passenger being discharged from hospital after initially being treated for their injuries.

Cathal’s partner Skye wrote on social media: “Forever 18. Sleep tight Cathal, I love you.”

The 18-year-old was a former pupil at St. Colman's Primary School in Dromore, who posted on social media: "Cathal is a past pupil of St. Colman’s and beloved son of our esteemed colleague, Pauline.

"On behalf of our whole school community I want to extend our sympathies to Pauline and Peter and to Cathal’s siblings, Niamh, Ronan and Declan and to the extended McCrory family.

"May his beautiful soul rest in peace."

He also attended St. Patrick's College in Banbridge, who described Cathal as a "highly regarded past pupil".

Alliance MLA Sorcha Eastwood labelled the tragedy as “absolutely devastating news” and said she and the local community is “wrapping all the family in prayers and support.”

Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard offered his condolences to the McCrory family and paid tribute to the emergency services for their efforts at the scene.

Police have appealed for anyone travelling in the area between 12am to 12:30am to review any dash-cam footage they have captured and make contact by calling 101.

The reference number to quote is 34 of 18/11/23.

The sad news comes after the funeral took place on Saturday morning for 16-year-old, Dylan Vallely, from Newtownhamilton in south Armagh, who died almost three weeks after he was injured in a one vehicle collision in Camlough.

The teenager was left injured – alongside two others – after a single-vehicle crash on the Sturgan Road on October 27.

Dylan had been a back-seat passenger in the vehicle but sadly failed to recover from his injuries.

According to Funeral Times, Dylan died peacefully on November 14 in the Royal Victoria Hospital surrounded by his loving family.

Dylan’s school, St Joseph's High School in Crossmaglen, issued a statement revealing how the governors, staff and pupils are “heartbroken at the tragic loss of our Year 13 pupil Dylan.”

The recent deaths means a total of 58 people have sadly lost their lives on Northern Ireland’s roads this year.

This figure is up from the 45 deaths from the same period last year.

Ahead of this year’s Road Safety Week from November 19 to 25, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and the emergency services have urged motorists to slow down to save lives.

The collective call comes as figures reveal that 310 people have been killed or seriously injured on our roads because of speeding in the past five years (2018-2022).

Head of Road Policing, Chief Inspector Graham Dodds said: “Our message is for everyone to take personal responsibility for road safety. If everyone stops speeding, more people live.

“Removing excess speed should be the easiest thing that every road user can do. If we all stop speeding, more people live and fewer people have to contend with life-changing injuries."