A gold coffin carrying one of five teenagers killed in a horror wrong-way motorway crash arrived by horse-drawn carriage as mourners gathered to say goodbye.
Joe Carthy was laid to rest in Athy, Co Kildare, on Friday after he died alongside Jack Kennedy, Alex McCarthy, Jeremy O’Brien and Kamil Pustkowski in the M9 collision last weekend.
Mourners wearing white T-shirts bearing an image of Joe followed his coffin into the church, while others carried framed photographs of the teenager.
Details of the crash
The five teenagers had been travelling in a BMW which was driven the wrong way down the motorway before colliding head-on with another car.
Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella, aged in their 20s and 30s, and Alma’s seven-year-old son were travelling in the other vehicle on their way to Dublin Airport for a family wedding.
Niamh and Alma Kinsella remain in a critical condition at Tallaght Hospital, while Ms Hendricken is being treated for serious injuries at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Funeral and community response
Gardaí maintained a visible presence in Athy during Joe’s funeral, with checkpoints on roads into the town and officers stationed around the church amid concerns over possible disorder.
The priest extended “sincere sympathy to Joe’s family”, adding: “We gather with sorrow in our hearts.”
Outside the service, pictures and videos were displayed on a screen as music played. A blue carpet led to the church steps, with white flowers placed around the entrance.
A funeral mass for Alex McCarthy was due to take place at Holy Family Church in Askea, Carlow, on Friday afternoon.
A vigil is also due to be held in Carlow on Friday evening in support of Ella, Niamh, Alma and the boy injured in the crash. A fundraiser for the family had raised more than €640,000 by Friday morning.
Wider implications
The crash has prompted renewed debate in Ireland over dangerous driving, social media content and the provision of State care for children.
Earlier this week, Ireland’s child and family agency Tusla confirmed one of the teenagers who died had been in its care, while two others were known to the agency.
Tusla has committed to sharing information with the independent National Review Panel, which examines deaths and serious incidents involving children who were in State care or known to the agency.
Government and opposition politicians have also criticised social media companies over content depicting dangerous driving and called for harmful material to be removed more quickly.
TikTok declined an invitation to publicly appear before the Oireachtas Media Committee on September 23 to discuss how it deals with content that “glorifies illegal activity”, instead offering lawmakers a private briefing.
The company said it would not be “possible” to appear while investigations by Gardaí and media regulator Coimisiún na Meán were ongoing.
TikTok also said it would not be “appropriate” for it to be the only video-sharing platform called before the committee when similar content appears elsewhere on social media.
The company said it had removed all content flagged to it and banned accounts which breached its policies against criminal behaviour.
It also said it removes content that glorifies violence or promotes crime that could harm others, while limiting the spread of material encouraging unsafe behaviour including dangerous driving.
Coimisiún na Meán has sought a “full account” of how TikTok is dealing with reports of illegal or harmful content and said it remains in “close contact” with An Garda Síochána.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has policies restricting users under 18 from seeing imagery depicting real-life dangerous driving likely to cause injury. It also bans content promoting criminal or harmful activities.
Snapchat said it had removed content relating to the crash for breaching its policies and would continue taking action against material depicting dangerous or illegal behaviour.
Official response and next steps
Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has pledged to provide An Garda Síochána with “whatever resources they require” to tackle dangerous driving, including introducing pursuit-specific training for the first time.
He said Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly will begin implementing the training this year.
Local Gardaí had earlier attempted to stop the BMW, but it failed to stop. A decision was later taken not to pursue the vehicle as it travelled the wrong way down the motorway.
Mr O’Callaghan is also exploring the introduction of a specific offence for deliberately driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway.
Opposition politicians have argued that problems policing dangerous driving stem partly from recruitment and retention issues.
Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy said a “failure to address” Garda numbers is “fuelling a community safety crisis” across the State.
He added: “There is a clear shortage of community gardaí and interventions needed to prevent crime before it occurs.”
