Ian Bailey's ashes scattered off Cork coast as family hold memorial service
The family of Ian Bailey held a memorial service in west Cork on Friday morning with the ashes of the journalist and poet then scattered off the coast.
Mr Bailey was the chief suspect in the 1996 murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier. The 66-year-old died in January 2024.
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He was cremated at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, in the days following his death.
Mr Bailey was on two occasions detained by gardaí for questioning in relation to the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier.
The battered body of the 39-year-old French film producer was found near her holiday home in Toormore on the outskirts of Schull in west Cork on December 23rd, 1996.
Kay Reynolds, the only sister of Mr Bailey, spoke to the Opinion Line on 96FM on Friday morning. She said Ian 'loved west Cork with a passion.'
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"There was the warrant which meant he could not leave the country but he said he would not want to be anywhere else."
"It was very appropriate that this is where we spread his ashes. It is something he wanted."
Ms Reynolds said that Ian was "quite fit" until the last few years of his life.
"[The stress] finally got to him. He was not taking care of himself but it was all to do with the pressure. It had been relentless for almost 30 years. It took its toll on him."
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"There were times he did not help himself. I think if he had kept quiet it would have been better but that was not Ian's style.
"He had nothing to hide and he would not hide. He confronted his challengers face on."
Ms Reynolds said she never for a second considered the possibility that Mr Bailey might have carried out the murder.
"As family we never thought that he had done this," she said. "Gardaí felt there were things that only somebody involved in the crime would have known. I don't think that helped."
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"That was Ian's style of journalism – in Gloucester he did stuff about GCHQ [the UK spy agency] that other journalists didn't. He thought outside the box.
"I think that was what happened there and became his downfall. That is how he became a suspect."
"From the moment he told us – he phoned us to let us know we would start to see things in the paper about him – we never doubted him that he had been involved in this."
She added that her thoughts were with the family of Ms Toscan du Plantier.
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"This is not to forget that a very young mother was brutally murdered. I feel so sorry for the family because of the misguided belief that Ian committed the murder they have just had so many years of torture."
The father of Ms Toscan Du Plantier died late in December 2024 just days after the 28th anniversary of the murder of his daughter.
Georges Bouniol, who was 98, passed away in Paris after spending close to three decades seeking justice for the murder of his daughter. Mr Bouniol died in hospital with his family at his bedside.
For many years Georges and his wife Marguerite travelled to west Cork at Christmas to attend an anniversary mass for Sophie with their son Bertrand and Sophie's son Pierre-Louis.
Two years ago Sophie's uncle, Jean Pierre Gazeau, said it was the final wish of her parents to see a conviction in the case.
He told the Irish Daily Mail that the family had waited too long for justice.
"They are so heartbroken that they still cannot move on with their lives. They've been waiting so long for justice and know they will not be around forever.
"It's their wish that they will see a successful end to this investigation so they can live the rest of their lives in peace."
Mr Bailey always vehemently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the murder of the mother of one.
He was convicted in absentia after a trial in France in 2015, and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
However, officials in France were unable to extradite Mr Bailey to Paris to serve the sentence handed down by the courts.
Mr Bailey fought two attempts by the authorities in France to extradite him to the country.
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Toscan Du Plantier's brother agrees that Ian Baile...
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He also unsuccessfully sued newspapers for allegedly defaming him and gardaí for allegedly trying to frame him.
He also lodged a complaint with the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) in early 2012 into his treatment by gardaí investigating the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier.
A subsequent Gsoc report indicated grave issues of concern but said there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Bailey was framed for the murder or that evidence was falsified, forged or fabricated by members of An Garda Siochána.
A cold case review into the death of Ms Toscan Du Plantier is ongoing.
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