One of three people to die in three separate Christmas road tragedies in Northern Ireland was a young newlywed “with a heart of gold”.
Amy Stokes, from Ballyconnell in Co Cavan, died following a single vehicle crash at Derrylin, Co Fermanagh, on Monday evening.
The 20-year-old was a passenger in the vehicle and three others were treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries after the collision at Ballyconnell road.
Friends and relatives posted online tributes following the tragedy, with one cousin stating the young woman was “taken way too soon” and had her “whole life ahead of her”.
In a funeral notice from her family, Amy was described as a “loving wife, daughter, sister, daughter-in-law and friend”, adding she “thought the world of her husband Damien, her parents, brothers and sisters and her in-laws”.
Born in Drogheda, she lived in Navan in Co Meath as a child and moved to Banbridge in Co Down as a teen before moving to Ballyconnell.
She married in September, two days after her 20th birthday.
“Amy was a very kind-hearted welcoming person to everyone she met and was always so friendly,” the notice states.
“Amy had an amazing voice and everyone loved to hear her sing. She truly will be missed, everyone loved her so much, she was such a big personality and was ‘always the life of the party’ as she would say herself.
“Dancing and listening to music were her favourite things to do, with a great love of getting out socialising with her friends who always knew she would lighten up the room, never failing to make her friends laugh, as Amy was always up for a joke.
“Life will never be the same without her as she is a massive loss to her family and friends.”
A funeral service will take place at Our lady of Lourdes Church in Ballyconnell on Saturday.
Amy was the second person killed on the roads on Monday, after a man in his 40s died when a lorry he was driving crashed in the Moylagh Road area of Beragh.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services arrived to find the lorry overturned.
On Christmas Eve, a man was killed in a single-vehicle crash in the Downpatrick Road area of Ballynahinch, becoming the 67th person to die on NI roads in 2024. He has been named by police as 34-year-old John Hanna from Downpatrick.
As of Christmas Day, eight people have lost their lives in collisions so far in December, making it along with September - when eight also died - the worst months of the year for road deaths.
In December of last year, 7 people were killed in collisions - out of a total of 68 for the whole year.
The worst month this year for road tragedy was September, when eight deaths occurred.
Of those killed this year, 50 were males and 16 were female.
Last weekend saw three people killed in the space of two days.
