Ireland to Introduce Pursuit Training for Gardaí After Fatal M9 Crash

Five teenagers were killed in County Kildare, Ireland, when the stolen BMW they were traveling in was driven the wrong way down the M9 motorway, leading to a head-on collision with another vehicle on August 16, 2026. Four members of a family in the second car were seriously injured. In the aftermath, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan announced that gardaí will receive pursuit training for the first time this year and that a specific criminal offence for driving the wrong way down a motorway is being considered.

The collision occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, August 16. The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank-and-file officers, said its members were instructed not to pursue the vehicle as it traveled against traffic. GRA vice president John Joe O'Connell stated on August 17 that the stolen car had earlier failed to stop for gardaí and that there was "not a single member of An Garda Síochána trained specifically in pursuit."

Speaking to reporters on August 17, Minister O'Callaghan condemned the "outrageously dangerous criminal behaviour." He confirmed he had spoken with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, who committed to introducing pursuit...