In a tribute to his murdered wife at her funeral Mass, Graham Turley told the congregation that Veronica “had to be first at whatever she did and I never interfered with what she did because she had to do it, to achieve what she needed to get herself onto that pedestal and nobody, absolutely nobody, was ever going to knock her off.”
Two weeks after Veronica Guerin was shot in the leg in January 1995, John Traynor was arrested and questioned at Coolock Garda Station under the Offences Against the State Act. “He said plenty” recalled a detective “but he implicated neither himself nor anyone else”.
One of the key issues to emerge after the death of Veronica Guerin was the role played by her employers, the Sunday Independent and whether they could have done more to protect her.
John Gilligan, a notorious Dublin criminal with 12 convictions, is believed by Gardai to have been the chief cuplrit in the murder of Veronica Guerin—he has been charged with the murder and his extradition from the United Kingdom is being awaited.
The life, career, controversies and murder of Veronica Guerin.
“Paul Ward told me he was going to be arrested for the murder on the night. He told me this on the night I signed the blank passport forms”
“I gave a court official £40 or £50 to pull summonses”
“Long told me he already had a friend in the force”
Garda John O'Neill
Earlier this month the High Court awarded £49,780 to Patrick McDonald. The award was made after he sued a solicitor who had been negligent in the handling of a car accident case on McDonald's behalf. McDonald is forty-two, and it has taken him fifteen years - most of his adult life - to get this award made.
In February of last year, a party was held at the Folk Park near Bunratty Castle in County Clare. 'Over sixty people attended. When the party was over, there were less than a dozen people left behind and the function manaager, Patrick Nugent, was dead. There is evidence to suggest that a car acciident may have had something to do with his death. But nobody there on that night admitted to seeing what happened. William Ryan was afterwards charged with manslaughter. Last month, he was acquitted on all counts. By Derek Dunne
Derek Dunne examines the performance of the Special Criminal Court
Thirteen years ago this month the then Fianna Fail government issued a proclamation that "the orrdinary courts were inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of the public peace and order."
The pattern of sentencing and conviction in Dublin's District Court relies as much on the legal knowledge of the gardai, the sharpness of the solicitors, the demeanour of the defendants and the personal views of the judge as it does on criminal law. MARK BRENNOCK reports.