The group of boys have since been linked to the so-called ‘lucky dip’ gang, a network of teenage joyriders first identified by the Gardaí last year, the Irish Independent reported.
The name derives from thebgang’s tendency to target areas at random.
‘Lucky dip’ is thought to comprise of some 60 members, with some aged as young as 14.
Some three hundred incidents were linked to the group in the first three months of this year alone.
Primarily operating by night, the group joyrides vehicles to generate footage for Tiktok and Instagram, following trend of dangerous social media stunts.
John Joe O’Connell, vice-president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said teenagers were trying to outdo each other’ with videos depicting dangerous acts such as wrong-way driving.
Those pursuing social media engagement are ‘playing Russian roulette with their lives and everyone else’s lives’, he warned.
He added: ‘There’s not one member of An Garda Síochána trained in pursuit – never mind in dealing with cars going down the wrong way.’
They had been travelling on the correct side of the road, driving to Dublin Airport, with images showing suitcases at the roadside.
Pictures from the scene show one vehicle on the grass to the side of the motorway and covered in red tarp, while the other lies in pieces on the road.
Detectives are now trying to piece together the moments prior to the crash; they believe the BMW may have been stolen.
Additionally, Gardaí want to establish whether videos were posted on social media before the fatal collision, as, ‘in some cases’, vehicles are being driven on the wrong side of motorways for online views and likes.