TD slammed for saying he was “sick” of posts about dead M9 teenagers

Five teenage boys died in the crash on the M9. The women and child they hit remain in hospital.

In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, the Fianna Fáil TD said the five young men were “thugs”. 

“Our sympathies and concerns should be for victims. Our support should be for An Garda Síochána,” Crowe said.

Independent senator Lynn Ruane criticised Crowe for the comments and said it is “beyond disturbing to me to see the Chair of the Committee on Youth speak about young people in such a dehumanising way”.

The five boys have been named as Jack Kennedy (17), Kamil Pustkowski (17), Joe Carthy (15), Alex McCarthy (17) and Jeremy O’Brien (18). Two of the young men had previously been charged by Gardai for a number of different crimes.

The funeral notice for one of the five teenagers has been removed from RIP.ie after abuse.

Traveller advocates Pavee Point have called for people to stop posting racist comments and for social media companies to step up.

The notice for Joe Carthy, a 15 year-old boy, of Clonmullion, Athy, Co Kildare, was published on Monday morning but taken down hours later, amid torrents of abuse over the fatal collision.

McCarthy died along with four other boys after the car they had stolen from Carlow town was driving down the wrong side of the motorway when they hit another car.

It's been noted by multiple TDs, councillors and youth workers that some of the young people killed and involved in the so-called 'Lucky Dip' gang come from incredibly difficult backgrounds and community outreach groups have been struggling to reach them.

They also note a severe lack of funding for youth outreach.

People Before Profit councillor Hazel De Nortúin says her thoughts are with the victims of the crash and more needs to done to reach young people before more people die.

"In communities like Ballyfermot, we've exhausted ourselves explaining to Ministers that community organisations, when at the forefront of responses to situations like childhood crime - in this instance, have the best outcomes with prevention," she said.

Carlow women Niamh and Alma Kinsella, both in their 30s, are in a critical condition after their Hyundai was hit head on by the stolen BMW around 3am on August 16.

Their sister, Ella Hendricken, who is in her 20s, was also seriously injured, as was a seven year old child who in the back of the car.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for the sisters has passed €500,000.

The BMW that hit the sisters’ car is believed to have been bought by someone known to one of the dead teenagers a few days before the crash.