Gardaí who followed a car before a head-on collision on an Irish motorway in which five teenagers died acted appropriately, a watchdog investigation has found.

A child and three women from the same family were also seriously injured in the crash on the M9 in Co Kildare last month when their vehicle was hit by the car being driven by the five youths which was travelling in the wrong direction.

Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman in Ireland, said Gardaí ‘acted in accordance with the law as well as relevant Garda policies and procedures’.

Police Ombudsman, Emily Logan, said: ‘Fiosrú’s investigation was independent of gardaí and aimed to understand events leading up to the collision.

‘It found that gardaí acted appropriately, within the law, and in line with relevant policies and procedures as determined by the Garda Commissioner.’