Niall O'Connor

GARDAÍ WERE INVOLVED in a high speed chase of a stolen car early this morning that drove the wrong way on a dual carriageway to escape pursuing patrol cars, The Journal has learned. 

The incident happened between 3am and 4am this morning after the Toyota SUV was stolen in the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra. 

The pursuit lasted a short time but during that time gardaí who were pursuing it recorded a number of dangerous driving offences.

It was first spotted in Ballymun and then went onto the M50 – near a junction for the Navan Road and Cavan Road, the car drove the wrong way on a one-way section. It is not known if it was the M50 itself or a slip road off it or a section of adjoining dual carriageway. 

The garda cars that were pursuing the car had to end the chase once the stolen vehicle went against the flow of traffic.

The vehicle was later found crashed and abandoned in the Ashtown area of Dublin city, to the north of the Phoenix Park. It is not known if the occupants of the stolen car were injured. The ground covered by the stolen car to its eventual collision in Ashtown could be around 15kms.

Sources have said that the number of stolen cars in Dublin on a nightly basis have reduced since the M9 crash that claimed the lives of five teenage boys.

The latest incident also comes just a few days after eight people in a stolen car crashed head on into an innocent motorist when they drove the wrong way on the M50 at Firhouse.

A garda spokesman confirmed the pursuit took place. 

“Gardaí on patrol responded to an incident of dangerous driving on St. Margaret’s Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on Thursday at approximately 3:30am.

“The driver of the vehicle failed to stop for Gardaí. The suspect vehicle did not collide with any other vehicle.

“The suspect vehicle was subsequently recovered by Gardaí. Investigations are ongoing,” the spokesman said. 

Car thieves drive against the flow of traffic on dual carriageways because gardaí will not be permitted to pursue them. 

The issue is now a major national issue as gardaí have been promised that they will be trained for the first time in pursuit driving. Garda representative associations have expressed doubt this could be achieved and may take months to begin. 

Meanwhile, as reported by The Journal, the Minister for Road Safety Seán Canney contacted the Road Safety Authority (RSA) this week to convey his unhappiness with the organisation over its absence in the aftermath of the M9 motorway collision.

Five teenage boys aged in their teens died when the car they were travelling in, a BMW, drove into oncoming traffic on the motorway, causing a head-on collision.

Four people in a Hyundai, including a mother and her seven-year-old son, were seriously injured.

The five boys have been named as Jack Kennedy, Kamil Pustkowski, Joe Carthy, Alex McCarthy and Jeremy O’Brien.