Teenager killed in Donegal rally crash named

The teenager who died after he was struck by a car at the Donegal International Rally on Saturday has been named as Tadhg Callaghan Carter.

The incident occurred shortly before 17.00 local time at the event at Trentagh, close to Kilmacrennan, and involved a participating vehicle in the rally.

Tadhg, aged 15, was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital and was later pronounced dead.

Gardaí (Irish police) are appealing for witnesses who were present at ‘Location 15 on Special Stage 12 Gartan’, particularly those with mobile phone or dashcam footage in the area.

‘Deepest sympathies’

Two other spectators were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries following the incident.

The rally was stopped and a decision to cancel the rest of the three-day event was taken as a mark of respect by organisers.

Motorsport Ireland and Donegal Motor Club said they “express their deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased” and asked that their privacy is respected.

Motorsport Ireland and An Garda Síochána have started an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

It is the first fatality at the Donegal International Rally – one of the biggest motorsport events on the island of Ireland – since three-time winner Manus Kelly died in a crash in 2019.

In 2008, an 18-year-old spectator died when a car left the road and the rest of the rally was cancelled, and six years earlier two marshals died in an incident at the event.

The last spectator fatality at a Motorsport Ireland-sanctioned event was at the Cavan Stages in 2012, when two spectators died in an incident.