The crash on the M9 motorway in County Kildare, which claimed the lives of five teenagers and left a family of four seriously injured, has horrified Ireland. The incident has renewed focus on the enforcement of dangerous driving, the regulation of social media content, and the provision of State care to children.

A Survivor’s Resonance

For Róisín Stakelum, the horror of the head-on collision on the M9 has “brought it all back.” Ms Stakelum was almost exactly three years ago the victim of a strikingly similar crash. She was driving to the airport on July 1, 2023, before a planned emigration to Australia when, shortly before 1am on the M8 motorway, she was struck by a car driven by teenagers going the wrong way down the roadway. She said she “had no time to react.”

Speaking on Saturday, Ms Stakelum told RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor radio programme that she “absolutely cannot believe that it has happened again.” She said: “I’m so upset. It’s really, really affected me. I can’t stop thinking about the girls and the little boy in the car that was crashed into, and what they must be going through, and it’s brought it all back for me.” She described the “psychological toll” -- a fear of the world that kicked in when she was leaving the safety of the hospital. Ms Stakelum has since been able to return to work two days per week, but said that “it’s a struggle.”

She said she feels “angry” that “nothing has been put in place to stop this from happening” again, adding that other European countries have alert systems for wrong-way drivers on motorways. Asked about the driver who crashed into her, Ms Stakelum said she feels “mixed emotions,” expressing both empathy and anger.

The Crash and Its Toll

The crash occurred in the early hours of 16 August. A group of young males had broken into homes and cars in County Kildare, and police believe these were the masked occupants of a BMW who then appeared to try to bait patrol cars into a pursuit, The Guardian reported. At approximately 3am, the BMW was driving the wrong way down the M9 when it crashed into a Hyundai, injuring a family of four: three sisters, Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella, and Alma Kinsella, in their 30s and 20s, and Alma’s seven-year-old son. A vigil in support of the family, who were on their way to Dublin Airport for a holiday, took place on Friday evening. The garda have been treating the little boy and the three women for serious injuries in hospital.

The five teenagers who died were identified as: Joe Carthy, 15, from Athy; Alex McCarthy, 16, from Carlow; Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick; Jeremy O’Brien, 18, also from Carlow; and Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy. Their funerals were held on Friday for Joe Carthy, Alex McCarthy, and Kamil Pustkowski, while services for Jeremy O’Brien and Jack Kennedy were to be held on Monday and Tuesday. The Guardian reported that the first funeral, for McCarthy, was held on Friday in Athy, with family members wearing T-shirts bearing his photograph and a horse-drawn carriage transporting the casket.

The young men were known to police, and three were also known to the child welfare agency Tusla. Several had previously posted videos of reckless driving, previously known as joyriding.

The Social Media Dimension

Amid the mourning, attention has alighted on the role of social media. Mary Aiken, a professor of forensic cyberpsychology at the University of East London, said social media had escalated and amplified the phenomenon, describing it as “hybrid behaviour.” A an unnamed source has also said that fresh clips of reckless driving have been uploaded to the video-sharing platform TikTok in the past week.

The article from The Guardian quoted Mary Aiken saying that social media had escalated and amplified the phenomenon, describing it as “hybrid behaviour.” That source also reported that, earlier in the week, TikTok had rejected an invitation to address a parliamentary committee on media, citing an ongoing police investigation, a separate investigation by the media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, and the fact that no other platform had been asked to attend. Alan Kelly, the chair of the committee, called the rebuff a “slap in the face” to the Irish public.

Political and Community Responses

Carlow-based Government TD Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, who was a Minister of State, said on Friday as she attended a vigil in Carlow for four locals seriously injured in the head-on collision on Sunday August 16th, that it was a “devastating time” for Carlow. She said she knew the family of the sisters and the young boy, and that she would “sit down” with the families of two local teenagers killed in the crash – the O’Brien and McCarthy families – to give them “help and support.”

Separately, organisations from Dublin’s north inner city – which is not the same as Carlow – said that recent commentary and language that “dehumanised” the five teenagers was “damaging." The North Inner City Community Coalition said in a statement: “Describing them ... as though their lives had no value and their deaths did not matter ... deepens divisions, causes further pain to grieving families and makes it more difficult to have the serious conversation that is now required.”

Andy O’Hara, co-ordinator of Uisce, which advocates for active drug users, said it was possible to “have compassion” for the families of both the injured and the dead. He said he thought that the reasons some young people from marginalised communities were getting involved in criminality had to be confronted. “That doesn’t remove personal responsibility, but it helps us understand when we’re looking at prevention," he said.

Perspectives

The survivor’s perspective

Róisín Stakelum, seriously injured in a similar crash three years ago, says the incident has brought back trauma. She is “angry” that no new safeguards have been implemented, referencing alert systems elsewhere in Europe.

Community organisations

The North Inner City Community Coalition, a body working with at-risk young people, said abusive language that makes it difficult to have a constructive conversation and worsens the view.

Political official

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Jennifer Murnane O’Connor has promised to meet with the families of the two teenage victims from her area to provide help and support.

TikTok

TikTok declined the invitation to talk to a parliamentary committee, citing the police investigation and a media regulator inquiry, a decision criticized by the committee chairman Alan Kelly.