‘People were screaming’, priest tells of ‘terrifying’ moment car driven into crowd at religious service

A grandfather was seriously injured during the “terrifying” incident at St Patrick’s Cemetery in Co Louth, the parish priest said.

A man in his late 20s, who police believe was the driver of a dark car involved in the collision, was arrested at the scene in Dowdallshill, Dundalk, on Sunday afternoon.

The injured elderly man was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, while a “small number of people received superficial injuries”, gardai said.

Fr Mark O’Hagan said thousands had gathered for the annual blessing of the graves service in the cemetery when shouts and screams erupted as people frantically jumped out of the way of the speeding car.

Footage posted online showed emergency services at the scene as crowds looked on, while pictures later emerged showing a topless man being taken away by officers.

Fr O’Hagan told PA: “I could hear this screaming and shouting. And there was a lot of people running and a lot of people screaming.”

He described the car speeding through the graveyard past him towards a car park before driving back in his direction and mounting the kerb.

He added: “I tried to wave at him to try and slow him down or stop him.

“He sped on straight through the people again. It was terrifying.”

Sinn Fein councillor Ruairi O Murchu, who was not at the event but spoke to some people who were, said…