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

Four people in another vehicle, 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.

The Journal understands that the minister told the RSA that he was “uncomfortable” with the lack of visibility from the organisation days after the incident and that it was not out publicly stressing the road safety message.

It is understood the minister made it very clear that he was “not happy” with how the RSA had handled the last week and that he said he would be addressing the matter further in the coming weeks.

Sources state the minister also took issue with the statement the organisation issued after the M9 crash offering its sympathies to those affected and saying the agency would not be commenting further as the collision was now under investigation.

It is understood the minister wanted a clear road safety message contained in the initial statement and said it was the organisation’s remit to promote road safety in the aftermath of such incidents.

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The Journal contacted the RSA this week to ask for any advice for motorists who may be confronted with a driver speeding the wrong way at them on the motorway network.

A spokesperson said the RSA was “not in a position” to offer advice in this area that it would be “very difficult” for the RSA to do so.

“This kind of crazed criminal behaviour that we saw at the weekend, what advice can you give? What can you say?… It’s an impossible situation,” the organisation’s head of communications, David Martin, said. 

He said in a follow-up email that the RSA had “never developed any guidance for drivers who may encounter vehicles driving towards them on the wrong side of the road”.