Funeral masses were held on Friday for two teenagers who died in a wrong-way motorway crash in Ireland last weekend, with police maintaining a visible presence at both services. Joe Carthy and Alex McCarthy were among five teenagers killed when the car they were travelling in was driven the wrong way down the M9 and collided head-on with another vehicle.
The other teenagers who died were Jack Kennedy, Jeremy O’Brien and Kamil Pustkowski. A child and three women from the same family, who were in the other car, are being treated for serious injuries in hospital.
Funeral Services and Community Response
Joe’s funeral began in Athy, Co Kildare, on Friday morning, where the Irish police service had a visible presence in the town amid outcry over the circumstances of the crash and concern for possible disorder. The coffin arrived at the church on a white, horse-drawn carriage, with mourners wearing white T-shirts depicting an image of the boy while others raised framed photographs.
Father Francis McCarthy extended “sincere sympathy to Joe’s family”, adding: “We gather with sorrow in our hearts.” An Garda Síochána maintained checkpoints on the road into town, while officers were also present in the area around the church. Outside the service, a screen displayed pictures and videos while music played, with blue carpet leading to the church steps and white flowers placed around the entrance.
Similar scenes unfolded for Alex’s funeral mass at Holy Family Church, Askea, Carlow, on Friday afternoon. Gardaí were present as a white, horse-drawn carriage brought the coffin to the church. Father Tom Little told mourners they had come together “with heavy hearts and a deep sense of sadness” as he said prayers would remember “families on both sides of the accident”.
Homily and Vigil Plans
In his homily, Father Little said: “Conscious that lives have been lost, others have been injured, and families have been left to carry the grief that is so difficult to put into words. A tragic accident can happen in seconds and the result of it can last a lifetime. These types of accidents bring a deep sense of shock, anger, questions, regret, and even a sense of disbelief.”
He added: “Words cannot express the true feelings of our heart, so today is a day for compassion, prayer, and remembrance. We remember in our prayers those who have been injured and pray that they may make a good recovery, thanking God that they have survived, thanking God for the emergency services, doctors, nurses and ambulance staff and all who care for the sick.”
Elsewhere in Carlow on Friday evening, a vigil will be held for three sisters – Ella Hendricken and Niamh and Alma Kinsella – as well as a young boy, who were the occupants of the other vehicle. A fundraiser for the affected family had raised more than 640,000 euro by Friday morning.
Political and Regulatory Response
The crash has renewed focus on enforcement of dangerous driving, the regulation of social media content, and the provision of State care to children. Earlier in the week, Ireland’s child and family agency, Tusla, confirmed one of the deceased teenagers was in its care, while two other boys were “known” to it. Tusla has committed to sharing information with the independent National Review Panel into deaths or serious incidents involving children known to Tusla or in State care.
Following the crash, Government and opposition politicians have criticised social media companies for failing to restrict or quickly remove content depicting dangerous driving. TikTok declined to publicly appear before a parliamentary committee probing online videos of dangerous driving, instead offering a private briefing to lawmakers. It had been invited to appear before the Oireachtas Media Committee on September 23 to address how it deals with content that “glorifies illegal activity”. Irish media regulator Coimisiún na Meán has also sought a “full account” of how TikTok is dealing with reports of illegal or harmful content, adding it is in “close contact” with An Garda Síochána.
TikTok said it would not be “possible” to appear before the committee given investigations by gardaí and the regulator, and that it would not be “appropriate” for it to be the sole video-sharing company called before the committee when similar content appears on other platforms. The company says it has removed all flagged content and banned accounts that violate its policies against criminal behaviour, and that it removes content glorifying violence and promoting crime, while limiting the spread of material encouraging unsafe behaviour.
Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook, has policies to restrict users under 18 from seeing imagery depicting real-life dangerous driving likely to cause injury, as well as a prohibition of content promoting criminal or harmful activities. Snapchat said it had removed content in relation to the crash for violation of its policies, adding that it would continue to strengthen protections and take action against material depicting dangerous or illegal activity.
Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan committed to providing An Garda Síochána with “whatever resources they require” to deal with dangerous driving – including introducing pursuit-specific training for the first time. He said Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly will begin implementing the training this year. A decision was taken to instruct gardaí not to pursue the BMW occupied by the teenagers the wrong way down the motorway, after local gardaí said it had earlier failed to stop for police. Mr O’Callaghan is also exploring the introduction of a specific offence for deliberately driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway.
However, opposition politicians said the problems in policing dangerous driving stem from issues around recruitment and retention. Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy said a “failure to address” Garda numbers is “fuelling a community safety crisis” across the State. He said: “There is a clear shortage of community gardaí and interventions needed to prevent crime before it occurs.”
