Ronan Keating and family left with ‘unanswered questions’ after brother's tragic death

Irish singer Ronan Keating said his family is left with “unanswered questions” about investigatory and judicial processes following the death of his brother in a crash.

Ciaran Keating, who was the older brother of the former Boyzone singer, died in a car crash in Co Mayo in July 2023. His wife Annemarie was also seriously injured in the crash.

Dean Harte, 22, from Tyrellspass in Westmeath, collided with Mr Keating’s car while driving near Swinford in July 2023.

He was given a 17-month suspended sentence at Castlebar Circuit Court in Mayo in February after he pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death, the Courts Service said.

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On the day of the crash, Ciaran and Annemarie had been travelling to watch their son play in a football match for Cork City in Sligo.

Ronan helped carry the coffin of his brother Ciaran during his funeral in Louisburgh in July 2023.

Speaking about his brother’s death on RTE’s Drivetime on Wednesday, he said: “You can’t really put it into words, a situation like this, how it can tear a family apart.

“I remember getting the call from my sister Linda, and to hear her voice on the phone, to hear her screams on the phone, is something I can never forget. It will be forever etched in my brain, in my mind.

“What happened to Ciaran, the injustice, the heartbreak, the devastating impact it has, and not just on Ciaran’s siblings, but on his children, his grandchildren, his wife.

“The ripples, it’s overwhelming. As a family, you find it hard to breathe sometimes.

“You have to shut it out. You have to block it because it’s hard to get through your day. It’s hard to put one foot in front of the other.”

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He added: “You fill your day with things to, you know, things to take your mind off it. And he was my brother. He wasn’t my dad, and he wasn’t my granddad, you know. So what those kids have to go through is far, far harder than what we’re going through as his siblings.”

On the same programme, Ciaran’s son Conall described his father as a “hero” and “mentor”.

“He was kind, gentle, proud man. Loved his family, loved his friends.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him or see him in things that I do, and I’d give anything just to have another day with him.”

Conall said his own children keep asking “when is pap coming back” all the time.

Ciaran’s brother Gerard said his confidence in the investigatory system was “rocked” after he found an impacted door of the car in a ditch 10 metres from the crash site two days later.

Ronan Keating said the discovery of the door should have been made by An Garda Siochana.

“There are many questions, many questions. We have so many questions, but we’re just a family.

“We’re just another family that have been scarred by this broken system.

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“Ger went there and was doing a job that the police force here in Ireland should be doing. It should have been covered with a fine-tooth comb.”

Gerard Keating also told the programme that he was left with questions in the judicial system, adding that the family was “scarred”.

In relation to the suspended sentence handed to Harte, Ronan Keating said: “All of the pain and the hurt is in losing somebody. This is just disgusting. It’s awful – this situation.”

He added: “You can’t get angry. You’re floored. You’re disappointed. The system is broken.

“As a family, we don’t want to send some 22-year-old kid to jail. We don’t want to see some kid go to jail whose life is going to be thrown away. That’s not what we’re looking for.

“But what we’re looking for is to make sure somebody else doesn’t die because of careless driving. That some other family’s life is not going to be ripped apart.”

Conall Keating said he would like to see “credible deterrents” for drivers against careless and dangerous driving, adding that Ireland could “pioneer” solutions around tracking speeding and phone use within cars.

Asked if still believed the justice system was broken, Ronan Keating said the family had not seen any evidence of change since the sentencing.

“It’s up to us now, the family, to try to do something about it. We won’t let this lie.”