Justice Minister to deliver public apology to Monaghan family of hit-and-run victim Shane O'Farrell
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan is scheduled to take to his feet in the Dáil and publicly address the family of Shane O'Farrell, who was killed while cycling near his home in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, on 2 August 2011.
The 23-year-old was fatally injured by Zigimantas Gridziuska, a Lithuanian national who was on bail from at least five different courthouses at the time of the incident.
Gridziuska left the scene before later handing himself into gardaí after hiding his damaged car in bushes near his home, several kilometres away.
In March 2013, he pleaded guilty to failing to stop at the scene of the fatal collision, failing to report the accident to the authorities and driving a defective vehicle.
He never, however, served time for the fatal hit-and-run incident.
The trial judge directed he be found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving with Gridziuska being banned from the State for 10 years.
It emerged, however that Gridziuska ignored bail laws and court orders were not enforced with later inquiries also establishing how he received a six-month prison sentence in the year beforehand, which he never served due to a Courts Service administrative error.
The Monaghan man's parents Jim and Lucia and his four sisters held face to face talks with Mr O'Callaghan in March where renewed appeals were made for a public inquiry into his death.
Mr O'Callaghan, during his tenure as an opposition TD, moved a motion in 2018 which sought an inquiry into the circumstances behind the tragedy.
Speaking in the Dáil at the time, Mr O'Callaghan said a subsequent scoping report which was led by retired judge Gerard Haughton and published in July 2023, would be sent to the Oireachtas' Justice Committee in order to consider its findings.
In response to a call by Cavan-Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy for the rollout of a public inquiry, Mr O'Callaghan vowed to keep his 'mind open', insisting a 'definitive answer' to that request could not be provided at that juncture.
However, in a statement issued ahead of tomorrow's resumption of Dáil business, Shane's mother said Mr O'Callaghan would formally address the State's handling of Shane's death tomorrow.
"We note Minister O'Callaghan will make an apology to Shane on Tuesday,' she said.
"Shane's case raises serious issues about how the criminal justice system works and how it ought to work.
"We await the apology on Tuesday."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on caring for older people: deserving of dignity, gratitude and respect
Much is rightly made of the statements of intent and idealism that characterised the foundation documents of this Republic. These included the Democratic Programme unveiled at the meeting of the first Dáil in January 1919, in which 'The Irish Republic fully realises the necessity of abolishing the present odious, degrading and foreign Poor Law System, substituting therefor a sympathetic native scheme for the care of the Nation's aged and infirm, who shall not be regarded as a burden, but rather entitled to the Nation's gratitude and consideration'. At the centre of that poor law system established under British rule was the workhouse, which was feared and detested in equal measure. While independent Irish governments subsequently sought to develop a more humane and empathetic social contract, the care of our elderly population has for far too long been compromised, sometimes egregiously. There is excessive reliance on nursing homes, a dependency more alarming given the shortcomings in Ireland's history of institutional care. There has also been a dramatic shift towards the privatisation of these homes. In the 1980s, public nursing homes accounted for roughly 60 per cent of total beds nationally, but a report from the ESRI last year highlighted that in 2022, '83 per cent of all Long-Term Residential Care (LTRC) home beds were provided by voluntary/private sector LTRC homes, with private for-profit operators alone contributing 74 per cent'. Considering the recent revelations by RTÉ Investigates, the Minister of State for Older People and Housing, Kieran O'Donnell, has said he has 'concerns' about the scale of privatisation and has ordered officials to study this issue . The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has highlighted the need to give it more power in relation to private nursing homes and their corporate owners. READ MORE The current controversies are all the more disturbing given it is 20 years since distressing images of the use of Buxton chairs to restrain elderly nursing home residents at the Leas Cross home in Dublin. A subsequent report by consultant geriatrician Desmond O'Neill described the care shortcomings at the home as 'institutional abuse'. As was often and remains the case, various concerns had been raised but it took journalistic exposé to bring matters to a head. In 2022, our population aged 65 years and over was 781,400 and is set to reach over one million by 2030. The number aged over 85 is projected to rise to 301,000 by 2051. What has been uncovered must generate an urgent dynamic to address the care of our elderly, who now, no more than when their needs were voiced by the architects of Irish independence, need to be treated with the dignity, gratitude and respect they deserve.
Irish Times
12 hours ago
- Irish Times
Former TD Violet Anne Wynne tells court she has no income to pay ex-employee
Former Independent Clare TD Violet Anne Wynne told a court she currently has no income to pay off a €6,500 debt from a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) award against her . 'I am currently unemployed so I don't have an income at this point in time,' Ms Wynne said at Ennis District Court on Friday. Ms Wynne was appearing in court over a determination order that her constituency office worker Fiona Smyth secured last December. The order concerned a then unpaid €11,500 unfair dismissal made by the WRC against Ms Wynne. Daragh Hassett, solicitor for Ms Smyth, told the court Ms Wynne has paid only €5,000 of the €11,500. READ MORE In court last December, Ms Wynne said that she would pay down the debt from her Dáil termination payment. Judge Alec Gabbett warned Ms Wynne that non-payment 'becomes a criminal sanction as it is an offence to disobey a court order'. Ms Wynne said: 'I know that when we were here the last day that I hoped to make the commitment to make the payment in full.' She said at the time it was her understanding 'that I would be able to draw some of my pension payment and that is how I made the partial payment in the first instance'. 'You said that you were getting a lump sum on retirement from Dáil Éireann?' the judge said. Ms Wynne said 'as it transpires they changed the pension scheme for new TDs elected in 2020'. She said the change was not fully outlined to her. Mr Hassett said it was open to Ms Wynne to pay the outstanding €6,500 in instalments. In response, the mother of six said she was 'not in a position to make any commitment here today'. Asked by the judge whether she could make payments on a weekly or monthly basis, Ms Wynne said she could not currently but that may change in the very near future. Ms Wynne said she is unemployed at the moment and her partner is also off work due to illness. 'You have been told by Ms Wynne that there is nothing coming into the house. I find that hard to believe and I would ask that she file a statement of means,' Mr Hassett said. The judge directed that a statement of means be provided including bank statements. He adjourned the case to July 11th and told Ms Wynne: 'I would rather not go the enforcement route.'
RTÉ News
19 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Supplementary register recommended for Seanad elections
A review by An Coimisiún Toghcháin of the conduct of the Seanad elections last January has made a number of recommendations to improve the electoral process for the upper house. Chief among those is a recommendation to introduce a supplementary register ahead of the next election. Unlike Dáil elections, current law does not allow for a supplementary Seanad register, meaning there is one fixed deadline that people must be registered by or risk missing out on their Seanad vote. The review also recommends improved checks on the register of electors to ensure accuracy. The Comisiún said issues with incorrect addresses and deceased electors remaining on the register likely contribute to perceived low turnouts. Another recommendation is for the inclusion of a standardised stamp or watermark on all ballot papers before they are issued and amending legislation to allow individuals decline a nomination or withdraw their own nomination. It also recommends all announcements in count centres are delivered in English, Irish and Irish Sign language and a review of procedure regarding the delivery of Seanad ballot papers by registered post. The Seanad with its 60 members has a unique electoral system. Six senators are elected by the Higher Education constituency and 43 through vocational panels, with only TDs, outgoing Senators and local councillors entitled to vote. The remaining 11 are nominated by the taoiseach of the day. The upper house has constitutionally defined roles in the consideration and passing of legislation and initiating bills.
