The funeral for a teenager who died in a wrong-way crash on an Irish motorway last weekend had a strong police presence on Friday amid warnings of possible disorder.

Joe Carthy, 15, was one of five teenagers who died when the BMW they were in was driven the wrong way down the M9 in the early hours of the morning and crashed head-on into another vehicle near Moone, Co Kildare.

He died alongside Jack Kennedy, Alex McCarthy, Jeremy O’Brien and Kamil Pustkowski.

A child and three women from the same family, who were in the other car, are being treated for serious injuries in hospital.

A vigil in support of the injured family, who were on the way to Dublin airport to set off for a holiday, will take place on Friday evening.

The fatal crash has shone a spotlight on the “Lucky Dip” gang of car thieves, known for uploading footage of reckless driving to social media for validation and popularity. It is unknown whether the teenagers were members of this group.

Friday’s funeral began in Athy, Co Kildare, where the Irish police service had a visible presence in the town amid outcry over the circumstances of the crash and concern about possible disorder.

Joe’s gold coffin arrived at the church on a white horse-drawn carriage.

A large crowd of mourners, wearing white T-shirts depicting an image of the boy while others raised framed photographs, followed the coffin into the church through an elaborate gold memorial.

The priest extended “sincere sympathy to Joe’s family”, saying: “We gather with sorrow in our hearts.”

Police maintained checkpoints on the road into town, with officers also present in the area around the church.

Friends and family members of the dead teenagers have drawn criticism for failing to mention the injured women and child in their online tributes to the boys.

Cathal Crowe, a member of the Irish Parliament, said he was “sick of seeing people eulogising and heaping praise” on the boys, describing them as “thugs” in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Lynn Ruane, an independent senator, criticised Mr Crowe’s remarks, saying it was “beyond disturbing to me to see the chair of the committee on youth speak about young people in such a dehumanising way”.

Elsewhere in Carlow on Friday evening, a vigil will be held for three injured sisters – Ella Hendricken and Niamh Kinsella and Alma Kinsella – as well as a young boy, who were the occupants of the other vehicle.

A fundraiser for the family had raised more than €640,000 (£555,000) by Friday morning.

Earlier in the week, Tusla, Ireland’s child and family agency, confirmed that one of the teenagers who died had been in its care, while two other boys were “known” to it.

The “Lucky Dip” gang has around 60 members, the youngest of whom are 14. Many come from impoverished housing estates in the Dublin suburbs, but others are from further afield.

Following the crash, government and opposition politicians criticised social media companies for failing to restrict or quickly remove content depicting dangerous driving.

Jim O’Callaghan, the Irish justice minister, committed to providing the police with “whatever resources they require” to deal with dangerous driving in the wake of the crash, including introducing pursuit-specific training for the first time.

He said Justin Kelly, the Garda commissioner, would begin implementing the training this year.

A decision was taken to instruct police not to pursue the BMW occupied by the teenagers the wrong way down the motorway. Local police said it had earlier failed to stop for police.

Mr O’Callaghan is also exploring the introduction of a specific offence for deliberately driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway.