Boyzone star Ronan Keating slams Ireland’s justice system after brother’s killer walks free

Ronan Keating has slammed Ireland's justice system after the person responsible for his older brother’s death escaped a prison sentence. Photo / Getty Images

Ronan Keating has described the “broken justice system” in Ireland as “a joke” after the person responsible for his older brother’s death in a car crash escaped a prison sentence.

The singer’s brother Ciaran, who was in his 50s, was on his way to his son Ruari’s professional football match with his wife when the crash happened in July 2023.

He suffered fatal injuries near Swinford in County Mayo, in the west of Ireland, after an Audi A3 veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit his Ford Focus head-on.

The fatal crash happened in July 2023. Photo / Getty Images

Dean Harte, the driver of the Audi, had pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death and serious injury. The 22-year-old was given a 17-month suspended sentence for two years and a driving ban for two years at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday.

“You can kill a man… and you can walk free. Not even a single night in prison. Just a slap on the wrist and a ticket to carry on with your life, like nothing ever happened,” former Boyzone star Keating wrote on Instagram on Thursday.

The court heard that Harte had sent a WhatsApp message shortly before the crash, but there was no evidence of phone activity at the time of the crash, which happened at about 3.35pm.

Harte had admitted taking cannabis a couple of nights before after tests showed trace elements of the drug in his blood.

Keating said the sentence was a “devastating example of a broken justice system, adding: “And then we wonder why we keep seeing this kind of behaviour on our roads, why people keep dying in road accidents across Ireland every week?

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“It’s a joke and it’s morally corrupt that, rather than trying to fix our broken system, they all turn a blind eye.

“Shame on Dean Harte but, more so, shame on everyone involved in this process that contributed to the heartbreaking outcome for my family today. The Lord himself knows the injustice that was served, and the Keating family will never find peace. We will continue to fight for Ciaran’s justice.”

Road deaths in Ireland have been rising, in contrast to elsewhere in Europe. There were 178 fatalities recorded last year.

Last week, the UK government decided to lower the default speed limit on local rural roads from 80km/h to 60km/h in a bid to save lives.