The Independent
·Aug 2026
Irish premier says fatal Kildare crash on M9 the result of ‘irresponsible and dangerous act’
Five teenagers died and four people were seriously injured, including a child, after a stolen BMW travelled the wrong way on the M9 in Kildare and collided head-on with another vehicle. Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the incident as an irresponsible and dangerous act, warning that reckless driving for social-media attention cannot be tolerated. The Garda Representative Association said police had been instructed not to pursue the vehicle, describing the difficult split-second decisions officers face and calling for consideration of pursuit training, penalties and enforcement. Local families and communities in Carlow and Kildare are grieving, while the crash has renewed concern about wrong-way driving and social-media-driven encounters involving stolen cars.