One man taken to hospital and another man arrested after incident at service in Dundalk

A man was seriously injured when a car drove at speed through a cemetery while thousands of people were attending an annual blessing of the graves service in Ireland.

Police said a man aged in his 20s believed to be the driver was arrested at the scene at St Patrick’s cemetery in Dundalk, Co Louth, on Sunday afternoon.

The injured man was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda, and police said a small number of other people received superficial injuries.

The parish priest, Fr Mark O’Hagan, said: “I could hear this screaming and shouting and there was a lot of people running.” He said the driver sped through the graveyard towards a car park before driving back towards him and mounting the kerb.

“I tried to wave at him to try to slow him down or stop him. He sped on straight through the people again. It was terrifying,” he said.

Ruairí Ó Murchú, a Sinn Féin councillor who was not at the event but who had spoken to some people who were, said: “They were utterly shocked. People are angry. There had been a huge amount of young kids there at the time. People who were very close to where the car sped through were jumping aside.”

Police said the car collided with parked vehicles on the road after leaving the cemetery and then stopped. They appealed for witnesses, especially anyone with video footage, to get in touch.