MOTHER OF M9 CRASH VICTIM SAYS HER SON “MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE” AS NEW DETAILS EMERGE

CARLOW, IRELAND — The mother of 18-year-old Jeremy O’Brien, one of five teenagers killed in a wrong-way crash on Ireland’s M9 motorway, has offered a fresh apology to the family who were seriously injured in the collision, saying her son made a “catastrophic decision” that changed several families forever.

Margaret Berry, 36, said the past four weeks had been the “worst period” of her life since Jeremy died in the August 16 crash in County Kildare.

“Every time I visit his grave I just crumble,” Berry told The Irish Sun.

The crash happened around 3 a.m. when a BMW traveling in the wrong direction on the M9 collided head-on with a Hyundai carrying three sisters and a young boy.

The five teenagers inside the BMW — Jeremy O’Brien, Joey Carthy, 15, Alex McCarthy, 17, Jack Kennedy, 17, and Kamil Pustkowski, 17 — all died.

Four people in the other vehicle, sisters Ella Hendricken, Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella, along with Alma’s seven-year-old son Yemi, were seriously injured.

‘MY SON WASN’T AN EVIL PERSON’

Berry said she wanted the injured family to know how deeply sorry she was for what happened.

She asked local priest Father Tom Little to convey her apology to the Kinsella family.

“I just wanted to let that family know how sorry I am for this terrible tragedy,” Berry said.

“My son made a catastrophic decision that night and the consequences have been devastating.”

She said she would give anything to have Jeremy recovering in a hospital rather than visiting his grave.

“My son wasn’t an evil person and he made a very, very stupid and terrible mistake,” she said.

Father Little later confirmed that he had met with the Kinsella family and delivered Berry’s apology.

He said Berry was genuinely remorseful and that the families affected by the crash would continue to need support and prayers.

MOTHER LEARNS JEREMY HAD BOUGHT THE BMW

A new detail has also emerged in the investigation.

Berry said Gardaí informed her that Jeremy had purchased the BMW involved in the crash.

According to the report, investigators believe the vehicle was intended to be used as a “runaround” by the teenagers. The BMW had also been linked to three attempted break-ins involving vehicles in Athy before the fatal collision.

Berry said she had never seen the car and did not know her son had bought it.

“I never laid eyes on that car and I wish he had never bought it,” she said.

She said that if she had known about the vehicle, she would have told Jeremy to get rid of it.

The family later received the vehicle’s logbook. Berry said she destroyed it because it served as a painful reminder of what had happened.

‘WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHY’

Berry said she knew Jeremy had been wearing a seatbelt, something she had repeatedly emphasized to him.

But she said she still could not understand why he drove onto the motorway that night.

“It’s obvious he was driving the car and we will never know why he made that awful decision to drive on the motorway that night,” she said.

She described Jeremy as a typical teenager who did not tell his parents everything and said she believed he was easily influenced.

“If he had survived he could have turned his life around,” she said.

GRIEVING FAMILIES TARGETED ONLINE

Berry also spoke about abusive messages she and other grieving families have received online following the crash.

Some messages were reported to Gardaí.

Father Little condemned the messages, saying grieving families should not be subjected to additional cruelty while dealing with the loss of their children.

“Grieving families don’t deserve to receive such messages of hate,” he said.

The comments came as families of the five teenagers continued to mourn their losses while the injured survivors recovered.

At Jeremy’s funeral in August, mourners heard that the actions leading to the crash had been wrong, but that the tragedy should not become the entirety of the young victims’ stories.

The mother of another victim, 17-year-old Jack Kennedy, also publicly apologized to the injured family during her son’s funeral, saying the five teenagers had made a bad choice and urging young people to stop engaging in dangerous driving.

MOTHER’S WARNING TO OTHER TEENAGERS

Berry said she now hopes other young people will learn from the tragedy.

“I would urge young people to think twice before they get into a car and drive in a reckless manner,” she said.

“Our lives have been completely destroyed and I wouldn’t want another family to experience the pain that we have endured.”

She said young people can sometimes feel “untouchable,” but urged them to consider the consequences of dangerous decisions behind the wheel.

Meanwhile, the Garda investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash remains ongoing.

The families of those injured have said they are continuing to take their recovery “one day at a time” and are gradually getting stronger.

A separate investigation by Ireland’s police oversight body, Fiosrú, recently examined Garda actions before the collision and concluded that officers acted within the law and relevant policies during their interaction with the BMW.