Hundreds of well-wishers gathered on Friday evening at Saint Clare’s Church in Graiguecullen, Carlow, near the Laois border, for a prayer vigil in solidarity with three women and a boy seriously injured in a wrong-way motorway crash on the M9 in Kildare on Sunday morning.
Ella Hendricken and Niamh and Alma Kinsella were travelling with the child to the airport for a holiday when their car was struck by another vehicle driving the wrong way down the motorway. All four were taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Five teenagers in the other vehicle died in the crash.
The incident has renewed focus on enforcement of laws against dangerous driving, the regulation of social media content, and the provision of State care to children.
Community gathers in prayer
The vigil, which was also livestreamed, began at 6.30pm. By the time of the gathering, a fundraiser for the affected family had received more than 675,000 euro (£578,000) in donations.
Father John Dunphy told those present: “We gather tonight, first of all, in prayer. And when a community comes together in prayer it gives great strength.”
Fr Dunphy said the hearts of the community had been “numb” since Sunday morning, but said “our hearts too went out to” the affected family.
Prayers for recovery and remembrance
“We prayed that they will recover. We knew it would be a long road back. Thankfully, they’re on that road and please God, they will make a full recovery,” he said.
At the same service, Bishop Denis Nulty said the community felt “shock” as well as “maybe fear and grief” as it gathered in “solidarity” and support for the family. He said they deserved the prayers offered, “particularly at a time when words fail and indeed when we feel helpless regarding what to do or where to turn to”, adding: “It’s good to be together”.
Speaking to those gathered, he said: “The thing about it is that they could be any one of us on the road from Carlow to catch an early morning flight from Dublin Airport.” He said it was “only right that we gather and know how much this gathering will mean” to the affected family.
Tributes to the deceased and a call for care
Bishop Nulty also thanked emergency personnel who arrived at the scene and medical staff who have cared for the family in the following days. He then turned his attention to those who died in the other crash, while urging the public to be “careful” in social media posts about the incident.
“We also remember the the five boys in the car – that’s the Christian thing to do. They too have heartbroken parents, family, and friends. We pray for them this evening,” he said.
Bishop Nulty said Christians were called on to be “hands and feet of Christ” but were additionally asked “to be careful of our language”. He added: “Words can hurt, but they also have the power to heal. To be careful of our social media posting, what is posted cannot be unposted, to be careful of our commentary.”
The service included a prayer for healing which involved sharing the flame from one source candle in the church among smaller candles held by those gathered. Funerals for two of the teenagers in the other car were held in Carlow and Athy, Co Kildare earlier on Friday, while it was reported that there was also a gathering for mourners for a third boy in Limerick.
