Irish police faced spate of youths 'trying to outdo each other' on social media before five teens died in wrong-way crash that left family seriously hurt

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By WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 05:27 EDT, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 05:42 EDT, 17 August 2026

Police were told not to chase a stolen vehicle travelling the wrong way down a motorway before a fatal head-on crash with another car. 

Five teenagers, all occupants of one of the vehicles, died and four people - including a child - were seriously injured in the collision on the M9 motorway, in Co Kildare, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Post-mortem examinations will now be carried out to establish a cause of death after the fatal crash. 

The four injured people, who are believed to be members of the same family, were travelling to Dublin Airport before they were rushed to hospital. 

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said its members were 'all in shock' after the 'horrific incident'.

GRA vice-president John Joe O'Connell said on Monday: 'This involved a stolen BMW that drove – trying to evade gardaí – drove the wrong way down the M9 and then a head-on collision occurred with this car of a family heading to Dublin Airport on holidays for a few days.'

Mr O'Connell said the BMW had earlier failed to stop for gardaí and that it was his understanding that an instruction was given not to pursue with the vehicle as it travelled the wrong way down the M9.

Asked if this was standard procedure, he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland radio programme: 'It would be standard practice, and the command and control centre would be dictating what happens in a live environment – but the members in the cars have to make a split-second decision.'

Mr O'Connell said there were 'numerous gangs' of boys and young men 'trying to outdo each other' in social media videos depicting interactions with Gardaí, pursuits and wrong-way driving.

Five teenage boys who were in a car which was driving the wrong way down a motorway in Ireland before crashing have died. Pictured: The scene on the M9 northbound at Junction 3

Police said a car was travelling on the M9 in the wrong direction in Co Kildare before it smashed into another vehicle at junction 3 at around 3am on Sunday. Pictured: The scene on the M9 northbound

A forensic collision examination will take place while police investigate the circumstances of the head-on crash

'Our members are not going to follow down that route – we're damned if you do and damned if you don't, that way.'

The Kildare-based representative said the GRA did not 'know what the exact answer is' to address the problem, but added: 'There's not one member of An Garda Síochána trained in pursuit – never mind in dealing with cars going down the wrong way.'

Mr O'Connell said gardaí also face internal sanctions, discipline and possible criminal offences when they decide to chase in pursuits.

He said garda cars have also been rammed by stolen vehicles.

Mr O'Connell said there was a need to 'look at the sentences' when these cases come before the courts, as he criticised those partaking in wrong-way driving as 'playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else's lives'.

He urged parents to talk to their sons about the potential consequences if they get into a stolen car 'for the craic and the clicks'.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has described the head-on collision between junctions 3 and 4 as 'horrific' and warned that 'in some cases' vehicles are being driven on the wrong side of motorways for social media likes.

The previous weekend, nine people were injured in a head-on collision on the M50 in Dublin with a car travelling in the wrong direction on the motorway.