Irish singer Ronan Keating has called for stronger sentences for fatal road traffic offences in the Republic of Ireland following the death of his brother.
Ciarán Keating, 57, and his wife Annemarie were travelling to watch their son play football when their car collided with a car driven by Dean Harte in July 2023 in County Mayo.
Harte was given a 17-month suspended sentence in February this year after he pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death.
“What happened to Ciarán, the injustice, the heartbreak, the devastating impact it has, and not just on Ciarán’s siblings, but on his children, his grandchildren, his wife – the ripples, it’s overwhelming,” Keating told RTÉ’s Drivetime.
“As a family you find it hard to breathe sometimes.”
The former Boyzone singer said he was “floored” and “disappointed” by the sentencing, describing the judicial system as “broken”.
“We don’t want to see some kid go to jail, whose life is going to be thrown away, we don’t want that, that’s not what we’re looking for,” he added.
“But what we’re looking for is to make sure somebody else doesn’t die because of carelessness. That someone else’s family is not ripped apart.
“Is our judicial system here in Ireland that broken? It’s ridiculous. Ciarán’s memory will not be brushed under the carpet because of that.”
Keating said he has not seen any movement to change the system since the sentencing earlier this year, so his family are taking action.
“We won’t let this lie. We’ve looked at other cases, other families that have gone through what we’re going through – some more recent (than ours). It’s continuing to happen. Something needs to change,” he added.
Ciarán Keating’s wife Annemarie was also seriously injured in the crash and she now has severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and survivor’s guilt, her son Conall told RTÉ.
Earlier this year, the court heard how Harte failed to take a bend on a stretch of the N5 between Swinford and Bohola.
Harte’s Audi A3 crashed headlong into Mr Keating’s Ford Focus and the 57-year-old died at the scene.
The court was told nobody was speeding during the incident.
