An Garda Síochána would be given “whatever resources” were required to deal with dangerous driving, including pursuit training, the Minister for Justice said.
Jim O’Callaghan was speaking on Monday after five teenagers were killed when the stolen BMW car they were travelling in on the wrong side of the M9 in Co Kildare collided with another car early on Sunday. The four people travelling in the second vehicle were seriously injured.
“Yesterday, we saw outrageously dangerous criminal behaviour by five teenagers that resulted in them losing their own lives and also inflicting serious injuries on a family that were lawfully using the M9,” O’Callaghan told reporters in Dublin.
“I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms that reckless criminal behaviour.
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“I also want to emphasise that anyone who makes a decision to drive a vehicle deliberately the wrong way down a motorway is engaged in lethally dangerous behaviour and it must stop.”
[ Five teenagers killed in M9 wrong-way crash are named locally ]
The Minister said he had spoken to Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly and told him that gardaí “will have whatever resources they require from Government in order to respond to this threat to public safety”.
Earlier, Micheál Martin said there should be “no tolerance” for people who drive recklessly on the wrong side of a motorway.
In a statement, the Taoiseach said this was the “second appalling crash we’ve seen on our roads in a matter of days” – referring to an August 9th incident on the M50 that left nine people requiring hospital treatment after a car with eight teenagers inside was driven on the wrong side of the Dublin motorway.
“As the Garda Commissioner has said, it is an irresponsible and dangerous act, and it is shocking that in some cases it is being done for likes on social media,” he said.
Martin said his thoughts and prayers were with the family who had been injured.
“The lives of five teenagers have also been lost as a result. Every death on our roads brings untold grief to families and communities. There can be no tolerance for this reckless behaviour that we have seen on our roads recently. It must stop.”
The Taoiseach said he would be speaking to O’Callaghan and An Garda Síochána about the matter.
Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy called for urgent action to crack down on stolen vehicles being driven recklessly.
“These incidents highlight a very serious and growing threat to public safety that requires a co-ordinated response from across the justice system,” Carthy said, adding that while a vehicle pursuit was not always the safest option, gardaí needed the resources, equipment and training to deal with such cases.
“This includes the capacity to quickly close roads, deploy stinger devices where appropriate, co-ordinate air support and prevent vehicles from driving the wrong way on to motorways.”
He was critical of Minister of State for road transport Seán Canney, who earlier on Monday said he was waiting for gardaí to specify which supports the force needed to better respond to such incidents.
Social Democrats justice spokesman Gary Gannon said Canney’s comments were “extraordinary”, given groups representing gardaí had sought specialist pursuit training, a comprehensive national pursuit framework and a dedicated professional driving licence for Garda members carrying out pursuits.
O’Callaghan said Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien was preparing legislation to strengthen protections for gardaí involved in pursuits.
He said he had spoken to the Garda Commissioner on Monday about the legitimate points made by the Garda Representative Association in respect of pursuit training. He said the training would be introduced this year.
GRA vice-president John Joe O’Connell said the BMW had earlier failed to stop for gardaí and it was his understanding that an instruction was given not to engage with the vehicle as it travelled the wrong way down the M9.
The Minister acknowledged the “extremely difficult judgment” call involved in initiating a Garda pursuit of a car, particularly one driving the wrong way down a motorway, as it could result in “even more serious injuries” than those seen on Sunday.
However, he said there “may be situations where it is appropriate” to pursue a car that will not stop.
O’Callaghan also said he wanted to introduce a specific offence for deliberately driving the wrong way down a motorway.
“That is using a vehicle as a weapon, and it is a lethal form of behaviour that, as we saw over the weekend, results in deaths and serious injuries.”
The Minister said social media companies had a big responsibility not to allow posts that “glorify criminal behaviour” on their platforms. – Additional reporting by Press Association
