OVER 240 GANGLAND murders remain unsolved in Ireland since 1980 according to new figures compiled for RTÉ’s Prime Time.
That includes 130 murders committed here in the last 10 years alone in which the killers have never been caught.
Tonight’s programme spoke to the relatives of three such incidents in recent years.
Clearwater
In November 2010 cousins Glen Murphy and Mark Noonan were shot dead at the forecourt of Tesco Clearwater in Finglas, north Dublin.
Their murder was a case of mistaken identity, with the killers mistaking their car for somebody else’s.
The Dublin gang responsible subsequently escaped across the border, travelling at speeds of up to 200 km/h.
No one was ever charged for their murder.
“They went to the shop that night like anybody else to get a DVD and a packet of cigarettes,” Mark’s mother Geraldine told Prime Time.
Mark had a little girl, she was only nine months old. He picked Glen to be the Godfather. Mark and Glen were always together. Our lads are now lying in a grave and the killers are still out walking and living.
“Somebody knows something”, says Geraldine’s sister Michelle Murphy.
And we need those people to come forward. I’m not saying it would bring Mark and Glen back that’s never going to happen but it would help us. It could do tremendous things.
Lough Sheelin
In April 2014, Eoin O’Connor and Anthony Keegan borrowed Eoin’s mother’s car to travel from Dublin to Cavan.
Neither were ever seen again alive.
Their bodies were discovered the following month on Inchicup Island at Lough Sheelin on the Cavan / Meath border. They had been tied up and shot dead. Likewise, Eoin and Anthony’s murders remain unsolved.
“I don’t know what would bring people to do that. What kind of minds they have,” Eoin’s mother Jean told the programme.
Eoin had previously worked as a courier and had no record of being involved in organised crime.
“Eoin was a family man, he had two beautiful children. Somebody knows who is responsible and I am appealing to those people,” said Jean.
We will never be the same again but if we get justice it would help us.
Eoin was my son. I loved him. I still love him.
“At the end of the day there are murderers out there,” said Jean.
It’s not a nice feeling.
Gormanston
The report also featured an impassioned plea from Joe and Nell Maughan, the parents of Willie Maughan, who disappeared along with his girlfriend Anna Varslavane in April 2015.
At the time Willie and Anna were living in Gormanston, Co Meath, but had made plans to move back to Tallaght, Willie’s home.
Anna was 20 years old. She was also pregnant.
The two disappeared after making a phone call to Willie’s mother. They have never been seen again.
Tonight, Joe and Nell say that all they want is “to give them a Christian burial”.
“We know that William and Anna were murdered. But our priority is to get the bodies back,” said Nell.
What we are going through I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Just pick up the phone and tell where the bodies are.
We know a lot more now than we knew when all this started. And we know that people know something.
Anyone with any information on any of these cases, or on any of the unsolved murders mentioned on tonight’s programme, should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111.
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