Counselling services are being put in place in a number of schools and colleges, after the deaths of four young women in last night's crash in Co Kildare.

President of the Student Union at NUI Maynooth, Ben Finnegan, has called on students to come forward and utilise the available support services available at the university over the coming days.

“Students who are affected they can come straight to us in the student union or they can go to the chaplains or there’s counselling support, so there’s a lot of support network in the university,” he said.

“Come to our offices, come to somebody but the important thing is students have to come out and talk now because this is going to be a very, very challenging and difficult couple of days,” he added.

Five women aged in their late teens and early twenties were in the car. The driver remains in hospital.

Two male occupants of the van which was also involved in the collision are also receiving hospital treatment.

The dead have been named as 19 year old Ashling Middleton from Athy, 20 year old Chermain Carroll from Carlow, and 19 year olds Gemma Nolan and Niamh Doyle also from Carlow.

Ashling Middleton was a student of English and Anthropology at NUI Maynooth.