{"id":628592,"date":"2026-09-18T13:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/628592\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T13:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:50:11","slug":"gardai-acted-appropriately-before-fatal-m9-crash-fiosru-says-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/628592\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed \u2018acted appropriately\u2019 before fatal M9 crash, Fiosr\u00fa says \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garda\u00ed<\/a> \u201cacted appropriately\u201d when they followed a vehicle before it crashed<\/a> while travelling in the wrong direction on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare last month, Garda watchdog Fiosr\u00fa<\/a> has said.<\/p>\n

Five teenagers \u2013 Kamil Pustkowski (17) from Limerick; Jack Kennedy (17) from Athy, Co Kildare; Jeremy O\u2019Brien (18) from Carlow; Joe \u201cJoey\u201d Carthy (15) from Athy; and Alex McCarthy (17) from Carlow \u2013 died in the collision at about 3am on August 16th. <\/p>\n

Three women and a child<\/a> who were in a Hyundai car hit head-on by the BMW that the teenagers were travelling in were seriously injured. <\/p>\n

\u201cGarda\u00ed who followed a vehicle before its involvement in a fatal head-on collision on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare acted in accordance with the law as well as relevant Garda policies and procedures,\u201d Fiosr\u00fa said. <\/p>\n

\u201cGarda\u00ed had been following the car on the N78 in Athy for a short period before it joined the M9 motorway against the direction of traffic, where it later collided with an oncoming vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiosr\u00fa said it had examined evidence \u201crelated to the actions and decisions of garda\u00ed during their interactions with the car\u201d, including the nature and extent of contact before the crash. <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the course of Fiosr\u00fa\u2019s investigation, investigators obtained and reviewed CCTV and radio transmissions and received a briefing from the forensic collision investigator,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\"PortraitsLeft to right: Jeremy O\u2019Brien (18), Alex McCarthy (17), Joey Carthy (15), Jack Kennedy (17) and Kamil Pustkowski (17) died in the M9 crash last month. Photograph: Social Media accounts\/RIP.ie <\/p>\n

\u201cFiosr\u00fa established that on the day of the fatal collision, garda\u00ed had pursued a BMW car. Permission to continue the pursuit was granted by the Garda control room. After the BMW entered the M9 dual carriageway, the Garda vehicle terminated its pursuit and the control room confirmed that the pursuit should not continue. <\/p>\n

\u201cOther Garda units attempted to place a stopping device at an appropriate location, however the BMW undertook a number of U-turns, before fatally colliding with an oncoming car.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fiosr\u00fa became involved in the case following a referral by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, which must alert the agency to any incident where serious injury or death occurs after an interaction with the force. It said the M9 incident was the sixth referral it had received since 2021 relating to the Garda and \u201cvehicles being driven the wrong way<\/a> on motorways and national roads\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFiosr\u00fa\u2019s investigation was independent of garda\u00ed and aimed to understand events leading up to the collision,\u201d said Police Ombudsman Emily Logan. \u201cIt found that garda\u00ed acted appropriately, within the law, and in line with relevant policies and procedures as determined by the Garda Commissioner. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery death on our roads brings untold grief to families and communities. My thoughts are with family and friends and all those affected by this devastating incident, including the garda\u00ed who attended the scene.\u201d <\/p>\n

An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na welcomed the finding and said it continues to investigate all the circumstances surrounding the crash. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have previously highlighted the really challenging situation members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na are put in dealing with such incidents as garda\u00ed do what they can to stop such vehicles while also taking into consideration all other road users,\u201d Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have also spoken publicly about the need for increased statutory protections for garda\u00ed when driving as part of their duty to keep people safe.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alma and Niamh Kinsella and their younger sister Ella Hendricken were seriously injured in the crash and a seven-year-old relative of the women was also taken to hospital.<\/p>\n

\"SistersSisters Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella were injured in the crash, as well as a seven-year-old boy they were travelling with <\/p>\n

A GoFundMe appeal set up for the four relatives, who were driving to Dublin Airport to fly out to the UK for a wedding, has raised more than \u20ac830,000. <\/p>\n

In a statement, the three sisters said they were taking things \u201cone day at a time\u201d and \u201ccontinuing to focus on getting stronger\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly grateful for all the kindness, messages and support that have been shown to us and our family,\u201d they said. \u201cThe past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for all of us, but the support we\u2019ve received from so many people has meant more than we could ever put into words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the crash, the Garda Commissioner said some people were driving down motorways in the wrong direction in an attempt to get social media \u201clikes\u201d, which was \u201cappalling\u201d. In an appearance before the Oireachtas Justice Committee this week, the Garda Representative Association called for people who posted such footage to be prosecuted. <\/p>\n

TikTok was criticised by politicians and road safety advocates as the primary social platform where this type of content was being posted. The company initially declined invitations to appear before the Oireachtas Media Committee, arguing it would not be appropriate if it were the only social media platform to attend, but committee chair Alan Kelly TD later said TikTok had a \u201cchange of heart\u201d and would attend. <\/p>\n

The Government has since announced plans for harsher penalties for \u201caggravated\u201d dangerous driving, including deliberately driving the wrong way down a motorway, under legislation due to be enacted before the end of this year.<\/p>\n

The crash also raised questions about pursuit training for garda\u00ed and led to the force putting arrangements in place for members. However, the Oireachtas Justice Committee this week heard that just six frontline garda\u00ed<\/a> were likely to get the training by the end of this year and it could be 2028 before significant numbers complete the course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed \u201cacted appropriately\u201d when they followed a vehicle before it crashed while travelling in the wrong direction on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,104174,61,60,43,11318,58,253128],"class_list":["post-628592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-fiosru","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-road-safety","tag-social-media","tag-wrong-way-driving"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}