Chloe Hipson (21) from Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Chloe’s mother, Toni, changed her social media profile picture to that of her daughter following the crash as a tribute to the deceased. Her aunt, Marie McStravock, also posted a photo of her, with the words: "Devastated writing this post. Chloe, you gained your angel wings. So proud to call you my niece. Forever 21."

Another aunt, Chantelle Hipson, said: "Don’t have the words. I will reply to everyone at some point. World has lost a bloody gem of a girl. Heart’s breaking x."

Communities devastated by the loss of the five young people have ‘some very difficult days ahead of them’, a local councillor has said.

Tributes were paid across the country to 23-year-old Chloe McGee and 21-year-old Shay Duffy, from Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan; 23-year-old Alan McCluskey, from Drumconrath, Co. Meath; 23-year-old Dylan Commins, from Ardee, Co. Louth, and 21-year-old Chloe Hipson, from Lanarkshire in Scotland.

The five were killed in the Gibstown area of Co. Louth while driving from a restaurant towards Dundalk to socialise. The Volkswagen Golf they were travelling in collided with a Toyota Land Cruiser just after 9 pm on Saturday. A sixth person in the vehicle survived with non-life-threatening injuries. He is understood to be a man in his early 20s from Ardee.

Two occupants of the jeep involved in the crash were also brought to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Michael Gallagher, a councillor in Drumconrath, told Extra.ie that the area was in deep shock.

He said: "Young people have been very solemn. You can feel the shock and disbelief. We all still have a tough few days ahead."

The parish priest of Drumconrath, Fr Finian Connaughton, told Extra.ie the community in the village had come together to support the McCluskey family. He remarked: " had just said after Mass on Sunday morning that if people liked, we could come to the church at 7 o’clock to pray. Just by word of mouth at the end of the day, we ended up with a packed church with a lot of Alan’s peers. It was a very strange Mass. There wasn’t a sound in it despite being full. It was an eerie silence.

"I would be very conscious of the fact that we are only one community of several communities who are going through this these days."

Alan McCluskey.

He added that he knew the family well.

"I’ve been up to their house several times, and I find that prayers are always welcome in instances like this. Words can’t do justice, but it’s important just to be there, and I find that prayers help," Fr Connaughton said.

Louth County Council has opened books of condolence today in Dundalk, Drogheda, and Ardee for the five young lives lost, while the Dundalk Institute of Technology opened a book of condolence for Ms Hipson.

The young Scottish woman had moved to Ireland after graduating from South Lanarkshire College and was in her second year of quantity surveying at DKIT. Mr Duffy and Ms McGee also had links with DKIT.

Pupils at Dundalk’s Ó Fiaich College, where Ms McGee taught, were in "incredible shock" after learning of the crash, the school’s principal, Padraig McGovern, said. Locals in Ardee were having difficulty coping with the tragedy yesterday evening. One young man in the town said that he had seen Mr Commins recently.

"The whole town is in shock completely," he said. "I saw Dylan only three weeks ago."

One business owner in Ardee said his niece had been in the other vehicle involved and had broken several bones. He said: "She’s doing alright…. It’s a difficult time for the town and the wider area. The funerals will be a very tough time. We were watching the Ireland game yesterday and cheering, but we just couldn’t stop thinking of the families."

Another local told Extra.ie: "It’s a very sombre town at the minute. They are all from lovely families. We are all just hoping for the best for the young man who survived because he will have a lot to go through."

Politicians also offered condolences, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who said that it was "very difficult to comprehend such loss and at such scale".

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.