Overview
- A southbound car on the M9 collided head-on with a northbound family car between junctions 3 and 4 at about 3am on Sunday, August 16, and five teenage males in the wrong-way vehicle were found dead at the scene.
- Four occupants of the other car — three women and a seven-year-old boy — remain in hospital with serious injuries and forensic collision teams have completed their on-scene work while post-mortems are pending.
- Fiosrú, the police ombudsman, attended the scene and is conducting an independent investigation under the 2024 policing act to assess whether any garda act or omission contributed to the deaths.
- The Garda Representative Association said officers were told not to engage the reportedly stolen vehicle, a claim An Garda Síochána said it is cooperating with while also stressing there was no pursuit at the time of the crash.
- The collision follows a recent wrong-way crash on the M50 and has focused debate on stolen cars, social-media-driven risky driving by youths, pursuit policy and possible changes to policing guidance and sentencing.