Teenager released without charge after fatal Limerick crash

Miley Harty, who was killed in the Limerick crash. 

A teenager, who was arrested following a fatal car crash which saw a Limerick man die just hours before he was due to get married, has been released without charge.

The late Myles 'Miley' Harty and Kate Quilligan.

Gardaí confirmed that the man, who was driving the car involved in a single-vehicle accident at Askeaton early yesterday morning, had been released and said that a file on the matter is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Meanwhile, the funeral of 20-year-old Myles ‘Miley’ Harty - who died in the collision - will be held at noon on Tuesday next, August 24, at St Mary’s Church in Askeaton. Mr Harty will first be in repose at Cross’s Funeral Home in Limerick city on Monday between noon and 3pm.

The bereavement notice posted says that Mr Harty is “very deeply regretted” by his parents Miley and Margaret, his three sisters and one brother, and his fiancée Kate Quilligan. The funeral will be limited to 50 people in accordance with current HSE Covid-19 guidelines.

Mr Harty died instantly when the car in which he was a front seat passenger, left the road and hit a pole at around 1am on Saturday morning, at Cragmore, on the Askeaton to Rathkeale Road.

The teenager who was arrested was initially held by gardaí in Limerick on suspicion of having committed an offence under the Road Traffic Act, while a third man, who was a back seat passenger in the car - a silver coloured Skoda hatchback - was taken by ambulance from the scene to University Hospital Limerick with what gardaí said were “non-life-threatening” injuries.

Hundreds gathered at St Munchins Church yesterday to release balloons to pay tribute to Miley Harty, Askeaton, who died a few hours earlier in a road crash. 

Mr Harty’s fiancée Kate posted a number of heartbreaking messages to social media in the hours following the tragedy.

“This can’t be real, I can hear your voice going over and over in my head, but I can’t see you or touch you, never can I kiss you or hug you or tell you how much I love you,” she wrote on Sunday.

Mr Harty’s death brought the number of people killed on Irish roads to seven in just 48 hours, following horror collisions in Galway and Meath, prompting the RSA and gardaí to issue a plea to motorists to take greater care on the road, particularly given the heavy rainfall across the weekend is likely to lead to hazardous road conditions.