What the Papers Said

The Media coverage

There was widespread media coverage of Majella Holohan's victim impact statement and the allegation that semen linked to Wayne O'Donoghue was found on Robert Holohan's hand. There also reaction to the lenient sentence given to Wayne O'Donoghue. The Irish Times ran three pages on the story. The Examiner ran seven pages. The Irish Independent ran five pages on it. The Examiner concentrated on the local aspect of the case, running local's reactions and detailing other cases where a neighbour had killed neighbour. The tabloids ran the story extensively, in particular concentrating on the statement by Majella Holohan that semen was found on Robert's hands.

The Tabloids:

› The Irish Sun

The Sun ran with a front page headline "Nothing but a paedophile" accompanied by a picture of Wayne O'Donoghue in handcuffs. The piece on the front page said Majella Holohan has branded her son's killer "a sex fiend" and quotes Majella as saying: "He's a paedophile, that's all he is." Inside, on pages 4-5, they concentrated on Majella's victim impact statement. The headline says: "Why did he die? Did he scream? Did he suffer?" On pages 7-8 they ran the headline: "Secret trysts in S**g shed" at the top of the page is a headline "kid killer is pals with caged gay sex fiend".

The piece said "child killer Wayne O'Donoghue has been enjoying secret trysts with w GAY sex offender in prison, the Irish Sun can reveal.

"Homosexual inmates at the New Midlands Prison – which houses dozens of sex fiends – enjoy regular romps in a courtyard "sha**ing shed."

› Irish Daily Star

Their front page headline read: "It was Wayne's semen – what expert told gardaí after Robert's body was found... but 2nd test cast doubt." The piece says that semen was found on Robert's hand and forensic tests showed that there was a one in 70 million chance that it was not from Wayne O'Donoghue. However the discovery of a second semen sample undermined the probability that the semen on the body belonged to the killer. The Star ran seven pages on the story. Pages 2-3 ran with the headline: "Haunted forever by semen found on victim's body, by unexplained 999 calls made by Robert, by killer's betrayal". The story detail Majella Holohan's statement in court and the unanswered questions. The headline on pages 4-5 ran with "Wayne will only spend two more Christmases behind bars" and the story was about Wayne' sentence. On 6-7 they ran Majella's statement.

› The Irish Daily Mirror

The Mirror ran a front-page story headlined "Was Robert a sex abuse victim? – Mum's fury at semen found on child's body?". They ran five pages on the story. On pages 4-5 they recounted Majella's statement in court and the unanswered questions. 0n pages 6-7 they say that have an exclusive: "Out in two years – model prisoner O'Donoghue to get time slashed." The piece said that O'Donoghue will be out in two years as he has already served a year in prison and he will get out 12 months early for good behavior. The same story was in many of the other papers.

› The Evening Herald

The Evening Herald on 24 January ran with the headline "Was Robert molested?". The piece detailed Majella's statement and allegation about the semen. The Herald gave ten pages to the story. They ran a piece by retired Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey, with the headline "schoolboy will stay in my mind forever". They also ran a piece on "the two families torn asunder", detailing the effect on the O'Donoghue and Holohan family.