The mother of one of the five teenagers killed in a wrong-way motorway crash in Ireland has apologised to the family injured in the collision and said she wishes her son had never got into the car.
Margaret Berry, 36, is the first family member to speak publicly after the crash on the M9, in which her son Jeremy O'Brien, 18, died alongside Joey Carthy, 15, Alex McCarthy, 16, and Jack Kennedy and Kamil Pustkowski, both 17. Their BMW collided head-on with a family car that was travelling to Dublin Airport.
Apology to the injured family
Speaking to the Irish Sun, Berry expressed sorrow for the injured family members: Niamh and Alma Kinsella, both in their 30s, their younger sister Ella Hendricken, in her 20s, and Alma's seven-year-old son Yemi. They remain in a serious condition in hospital.
She said: "My heart goes out to this poor family and if I could see them I would apologise. I have said prayers for them and I hope to God that they can heal."
Berry, who will bury her son on Monday, added: "This tragedy should never have happened. I am not proud of what happened and I don't condone what they did — I wish my son had never got into that car."
Grief and unanswered questions
She said she does not know if her son was driving, and hopes the investigation will establish the facts. "I raised my son on my own and I've now lost a part of me for life, and so have the other mothers," she said.
A GoFundMe page for the injured family has raised more than £500,000.
Appeal for compassion
Berry urged the public to show compassion, saying: "People are saying they should roast in hell but they aren't paedophiles or rapists. They made a terrible mistake and it has had devastating consequences for so many families." She said some comments have been "disgusting" and attributed them to the family being a proud Traveller family.
The Garda investigation into the crash is continuing. Detectives are examining CCTV and have urged witnesses to come forward.
