Mourners Heard That He and His Friends "Paid Their Price" for Driving the Wrong Way Down the Motorway to Evade Gardaí in Ireland

The funeral of Jack Kennedy (17), one of five teenagers killed in a crash on the M9 motorway, took place today in Athy, Ireland. Mourners heard that he and his friends "paid their price" for driving the wrong way down the motorway to evade gardaí. Jack died alongside friends Alex McCarthy (16) and Joe Carthy (15), who were buried on Friday, Kamil Pustkowski (17) who was cremated the same day, and Jeremy O'Brien (18), who was cremated on Monday.

A child and three women, whose car was hit head-on in the wrong-way crash, are still in hospital. They were on the way to Dublin Airport for a holiday when the teenage boys' car struck them. At St Michael's Parish Church, Jack's coffin was taken up the aisle to Bruno Mars's song Just The Way You Are, following a procession through Athy led by a horse-drawn carriage.

Speaking during the service, Jack's mother said the teenagers "made a bad choice". "Five young boys paid the ultimate price. Five families lost their babies.

Five families got a life sentence. She also offered "heartfelt apologies" to the people in the other car who were injured, and thanked family, friends, neighbours, "and even strangers" for their kindness and support. Canon Frank McEvoy, who also spoke at the service, said the parish was in "disbelief" at the tragedy.

He addressed young people, saying: "If you are considering continuing this criminal activity, will you please stop? Just one word: stop. McEvoy went on to say: This is a family broken, and the consequences of that will happen to you too, for you yourself, for your families, the communities in which you live in, and then you will have the innocent victims.

There is no need for it. So again, I say to you, please, please, please, stop.