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Three sisters and a seven-year-old boy were on their way to Dublin Airport ahead of a family wedding in Britain when they were seriously injured in a head-on collision.

Alma and Niamh Kinsella, in their 30s, their younger sister Ella Hendricken, in her 20s, and her nephew were travelling in a Hyundai on the M9 in County Kildare when the horrific crash occurred on Sunday morning.

Their vehicle collided head-on with a high-powered BMW, which was allegedly stolen, driving southbound on the northbound carriageway shortly after 3am.

All five of the teenage boys - reportedly aged between 15 and 17 - travelling in the BMW died and were today identified on social media as Kamil Pustkowski, Joe Carthy, Jeremy O'Brien, Alex McCarthy and Jack Kennedy.

The four family members riding in the other vehicle all remain in hospital. Alma and Niamh are said to be in a critical condition, while their younger sister and nephew are receiving treatment for serious injuries.

Alma and Niamh are thought to have been sat in the car's two front seats when the crash occurred, with Ella sat beside her nephew in the back.

All four of the family are from the Carlow area of south-east Ireland and had been making their way to the airport to attend a wedding in England.

Father Tom Little, from a parish in Carlow, said today that the family of those who suffered injuries are 'bereft with sadness'.

Three sisters and a seven-year-old boy had been travelling to Dublin Airport ahead of a family wedding in the UK when they were seriously injured in a head-on collision with a BMA

Alex McCarthy was one of the five boys who died in the collision in County Kildare on Sunday morning

Joey Carthy also died in the crash on the M9 motorway

Jeremy O'Brien was one of five teenagers to lose his life in the collision

Kamil Pustowski was one of five teenagers to die in the collision

Jack Kennedy was the fifth teenage boy to lose his life in the crash yesterday

He told the Irish Times: 'It is a terrible, sad event. It's very hard to comprehend what's happened. Everybody is hoping that those that are injured will make a full recovery.'

It emerged earlier on Monday that the five youngsters who passed away may have stolen the BMW which later crashed.

The vehicle had been spotted in several areas near Kildare and County Carlow before the smash happened - and police are trying to verify whether the boys are part of the 'Lucky Dip' burglary and car theft gang in Dublin.

It is also being probed whether they were part of a number of attempted robberies of cars in the same region over the course of the night. All five of the dead were masked when the gardaí came upon the grisly scene.

Post-mortem examinations will soon be carried out to establish a cause of death.

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

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

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

Asked if this was normal, 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.

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

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 [the national police] 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 gardaí 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 of getting into a stolen car 'for the craic and the clicks'.

Friends and family took to social media in the aftermath of the crash to pay tribute to the teenagers who lost their lives.

The scene on the M9 after a BMW smashed into the Hyundai on the M9 motorway

In a social media post, a cousin of Joe Carthy and Alex McCarthy said: 'Rest in peace to my two cousins Alex and Joey.

'May you get a best bed in heaven, watch over your mother and father and brothers and sisters at this hard time. Left away to soon.'

In a separate post, she added: 'God give your family the strength to get through this difficult time.'

Sharing pictures of Carthy wearing a balaclava, another cousin said: 'Never in a million years would I ever (have) thought it would come to this Joe.

'The thought of us never seeing you again. No matter where you were, you always put a smile on anyone's face. Forever 15, my cousin.'

Meanwhile, a family friend said of Carthy: 'Only a baby with his whole life ahead of him, most mannered little boy you were Joey.

'Too good for this big cruel world, watch over my James he's heartbroken over you. Your poor father and mother, Joey.

'Please God give them this strength to get through this. Rest easy champ.'

A friend of Kamil Pustowski wrote: 'My heart is broken, you're gonna be missed so much by everyone. Rest in paradise, God is going to give you the best bed up there.'

A cousin of Jeremy O'Brien said: 'RIP to my cousin. (He) was like a brother. (May) God give you the bed in heaven, you'll be missed.'

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has described the head-on collision between junctions three and four 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.