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JUSTIN KELLY, THE Garda Commissioner, has said gardaí are being put in a “really challenging situation” in responding to stolen cars being driven at speed, particularly when the vehicles are being driven the wrong way on the road against oncoming traffic.

His comments, in a strong statement issued this evening, come after gardaí determined that five people are now dead after the BMW car they were driving travelled against the flow of traffic in the early hours of the morning on the M9 motorway near Athy in Co Kildare.

The Journal understands that the five people in the suspected stolen BMW had been spotted by gardaí a short time before the collision. 

The car drove the wrong way along the road and collided with a Hyundai car carrying a mother and her seven-year-old daughter as well as two other relatives. The occupants of the second car have all been taken to hospital for treatment.

Multiple sources confirmed to The Journal earlier today that the four occupants of the stolen car had been killed. Such was the impact of the head-on collision that the body of a fifth person killed was not found until searches of the wider site were carried out this afternoon. 

It’s understood the fifth person to die was thrown from the stolen car on impact.

In his statement the Garda Commissioner said: “My thoughts are with those injured in this morning’s collision on the M9.

“These family members were travelling innocently when they were struck by a vehicle being driven the wrong way down the motorway.

“This horrific incident, following the recent collision on the M50, shows how irresponsible and dangerous driving on the wrong-side of the motorway is.

“That, of course, should be self-evident, but what makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves.”

As reported earlier this weekend by The Journal gardaí in Dublin and surrounding counties are dealing with a major increase in stolen cars. 

Videos have emerged of teenage car thieves driving at extreme speed at night and in broad daylight in areas of Dublin. Clips of their driving, along with encounters with gardaí, are being posted by the young thieves on social media platforms, including on TikTok.

Last night, we have learned, a number of stolen cars were being dealt with by gardaí across Dublin and the surrounding area.

In one incident a garda car was rammed in the south suburbs at 2am as officers responded to reports of dangerous driving. The ramming happened as police signalled with blue lights and sirens for the car to stop at Glencairn Drive, The Gallops, in Leopardstown.

In the early hours of last Sunday, a car travelling the wrong way and carrying eight young people collided head on with an innocent motorist who was driving off the M50 near Firhouse. The car had been stolen from elsewhere in Dublin.

There have been other reported incidents of near-misses involving cars travelling the wrong way, including one captured in a video online which shows the young thief who is driving the car flashing his lights at an oncoming truck as he drives at speed onto a motorway in north Dublin.

Sources have said that there are now more than six separate groups of youths stealing cars and recording themselves travelling the wrong way on roads for the benefit of likes on social media accounts.

The car thieves had been focused on Asian market imports which lack certain security features, but the criminals are now stealing more powerful cars in burglaries. Those involved are generally teenage boys and can be as young as 12-years-old.

It is understood that the five deceased in the overnight crash on the M9 are all teenagers and are known to gardaí. At least one of them was linked to a horrifying incident in Carlow in which a motorcyclist was injured by a fleeing stolen pick-up truck.

The Commissioner said he was limited in what he could say as Fiosrú, the Police Ombudsman, is now investigating.

The Garda watchdog body is involved as a matter of protocol, and must investigate whenever people who are in contact with officers are seriously injured or killed.

Kelly said in his statement:

“I know that Gardaí do what they can to stop such vehicles while also taking into consideration all other road users.

“Gardaí are put in a really challenging situation dealing with such incidents. As always, An Garda Síochána will fully cooperate with the Police Ombudsman investigation which I hope is completed as expeditiously as possible.

“My thoughts are also with all members of An Garda Síochána and the emergency services who had to deal with this awful incident this morning.

“Such incidents show the difficult work we ask our Gardaí to undertake every day to keep our communities safe.”

As reported previously by The Journal gardaí are not trained in pursuit driving and this is limiting what they can do. 

Sources have said that the garda cars that are tracking these vehicles are being told to “stand down” their pursuits once it is assessed to be too dangerous.

Sources have said gardaí are also being trained in the use of stinger devices which can be placed in the path of a fleeing car and safely burst its tyres.

It is understood that the view at senior national garda management level is that the pursuit policy does not specifically require pursuits to be stood down in the absence of either a pursuit trained driver or a serious incident dispatcher. Each pursuit is taken on a case-by-case basis.

A campaign inside An Garda Síochána is underway by representative groups for gardaí to be trained adequately to respond to pursuit scenarios.

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