The funeral notice for Joe Carthy, 15, one of five teenagers who died in a collision on the M9 motorway in Ireland, was withdrawn from RIP.ie on Monday after a flood of hostile and offensive remarks were posted in its tribute section.
The announcement for Carthy, from Clonmullion, Athy, Co Kildare, appeared on Monday morning but was taken down just hours later, following a backlash over the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.
Details of the crash
The five teenagers who died were in a car that had been bought five days earlier. The BMW was involved in a head-on collision with a Hyundai near Moone, Co Kildare, killing all five occupants instantly.
The other four victims were Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick; Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy; Jeremy O'Brien, 18, from Carlow; and Alex McCarthy, 17, also from Carlow. Their funeral notices have not yet been published.
Circumstances and reaction
The announcement was reportedly withdrawn following a surge of hostile comments in the tribute section, where individuals expressed anger about the circumstances in which the group drove the BMW against traffic down the M9.
The driver and passengers in the Hyundai, sisters Alma and Niamh Kinsella, aged in their 30s, and their younger sister Ella Hendricken, in her 20s, sustained serious injuries. Ella's seven-year-old nephew, a rear-seat passenger, is also gravely injured. The sisters and the boy were heading to Dublin Airport for a flight to the UK for a wedding.
RIP.ie, owned by The Irish Times Group, said it does not comment on individual funeral notices, according to The Irish Times. Undertaker Joe Rigney, of Rigney's Funeral Directors, also declined to comment on the removal.
