The heartbroken aunt of a teenager who was tragically killed in a horror crash on the M8 motorway in Cork has urged young people “not to dabble in dangerous things as life is too precious.”
Johnny Foley, 16, from Togher, died after the car he was a passenger in drove the wrong way down the M8 motorway and hit another driver head-on.
The horror crash happened at around 1am on the M8 at Ballybeg, Mitchelstown last Saturday.
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The teen, who was a front seat passenger in the car which is suspected to have been stolen, was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver and three other passengers were taken to hospital.
A woman in her 30s, who is believed to have been travelling home from a late shift of work, was seriously injured when her car was involved in the head-on collision with the car in which Johnny was a passenger.
At his funeral Mass today in the Church of the Assumption, Ballyphehane in Cork, Johnny’s aunt Mary, through parish priest Fr Gregory Howard, told young people to “Be careful.”
“Mary has asked me particularly to say to the young people be careful. Be really careful,” Fr Howard told mourners.
“Accidents do happen. When you have that temptation or feel a buzz, try and reach an understanding that life could go so quickly. Don’t dabble in dangerous things. Life is too precious and you are too precious to lose your lovely lives,” said Fr Howard, on behalf of Johnny’s aunt Mary.
Fr Howard said “There’s a culture around as we grow up and sometimes we are tempted to do things that are dangerous and naive.
“I often think a person of 16 who engages in certain activities, they are growing up, and I am not making excuses, people take time to mature and grow. I know you, the family, have encountered in Johnny a lovely heart, a beautiful heart that needed just a lot more time and a lot more love to mature and become a real, loving, comfortable, happy contented being.”
Chief mourners at the funeral included Johnny’s heartbroken parents Michael and Maggie; step-mum Lilly-Ann; siblings Michael, Luke, James, Mary-Ellen, and Lisa, grandparents James and Bridget, extended family and friends.
Johnny was described by family as a “person who loved attention, a bit of a messer, full of character who was loved by all.”
One of Johnny’s cousins paid tribute to him during the funeral Mass saying he “always had a bright smile on your face. Of all the cousins you made sure you stood out. Your bright laugh and smile will never be forgotten.”
Another cousin read a tribute on behalf of Michael, Johnny’s brother, who said “My brother Johnny was my best friend. As kids we always had each other’s backs no matter what was against us. On 1st July I lost my best friend and it broke my heart. Life will never be the same again.”
A third cousin said: “It’s not going to be the same without you, for all the hunting, horse fairs and boys days out, you’ll never be forgotten.”
During the funeral service symbols of Johnny’s life including a horse harness, a bottle of Coca Cola and a football were placed on his coffin.
His burial took place afterwards at St James' Cemetery, Chetwynd.
Gardaí referred the crash to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission as officers had interacted with the car carrying Foley and four other teenagers before it entered the motorway.
Officers are investigating whether the vehicle, which had earlier been reported to gardai as stolen, was on the wrong side of the motorway.
The driver of the car, a teen aged 17, who is known to Gardaí, is understood to be originally from Blanchardstown, Dublin, but had been living in Cork in recent times.
