Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAWYERS FOR THE State have asked for two more weeks to file a response to Brian Meehan’s bid to have his conviction for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin declared a miscarriage of justice.
Meehan (47), from Crumlin in Dublin, is serving a life sentence in Portlaoise prison having being convicted in July 1999 of the murder of Ms Guerin in June 1996 following a 31-day-trial before the non-jury Special Criminal Court. He was also jailed on drugs and firearms charges.
Meehan has applied to quash his 1999 murder conviction on the basis of new evidence.
The new evidence concerns matters which emerged in the course of the 2001 Special Criminal Court trial of John Gilligan.
During case management procedures in the Court of Appeal today, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Anthony McDermott Bl, told the court that his side needed another two weeks to prepare submissions.
Mr McDermott said it had been “two decades since Veronica Guerin was murdered” and there was a lot of material to go through.
There was a “debate” between the parties as to the meaning of new evidence and whether one could rely on transcripts but the State will prepare a full set of submissions in any event, Mr McDermott said.
Mr Justice George Birmingham put the matter back until July 10 for mention and into the next list to fix dates on July 13.
He said the case had the potential to take over a day.
The Special Criminal Court found that Meehan drove a motorbike up to the side of Ms Guerin’s car on the Naas road and a pillion passenger on the bike fired a number of shots at the Sunday Independent journalist, resulting in her death.
He is seeking to bring an application under Section 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993, contending that “new facts” emanating from material disclosed for the 2001 trial of John Gilligan show Meehan’s conviction was a miscarriage of justice.
Gilligan was cleared of the murder of Veronica Guerin but was convicted of the importation and possession of cannabis resin.
Cross references to Gilligan case
In February the State were told to prepare a “substantive response” to Meehan’s submissions.
Tom O’Connell SC, for the DPP, told the Court of Appeal on that occasion that he had only received a transcript of the Meehan trial the previous Friday. He said it had to be retrieved “from the bowels of the Four Courts”.
Mr O’Connell had said there was “endless cross reference to the case of John Gilligan” in Meehan’s submissions and although he did not concede the relevance of the Gilligan trial to Meehan’s application, counsel said he needed a transcript of that case also.
President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice Seán Ryan said a fair amount of Mr Meehan’s case was that a Mr Warren is allegedly “not to be trusted” because another court had described him in trenchant terms.
Mr O’Connell said the DPP had brought a motion to have Meehan’s application dismissed on the basis that the alleged newly discovered facts were all known before the original appeal.
The DPP’s motion had been refused by the Court of Criminal Appeal last year. In its ruling, however, the court did not preclude the State from running the same points again in the hearing.
Mr Justice Ryan said the Director was still entitled to ask ‘should this case go ahead at all’ but it was for the Court of Appeal to determine.
He said the State had to “make a substantive response” and it was very important the submissions dealt with the whole case.
All this good news must have people worried, sure what are they going to moan about if things are going well?
There you go Paul. Ger found something.
Tingz wear better wen tingz was worser
Hauliers are the back bone of the country. They even deliver the economy.
Brilliant customer service, always with Irish Ferries. They go out of their way to help.
They went out of their way to get rid or their Irish staff.
Greedy Irish Staff.
The way they faced down the unions was an inspiration to us all, they stood up to the bullies and showed the rest if us the way
You must have met the ONE that can speak english
You mean polish ferrys find stena much better
Maybe its all the baled waste heading abroad for incineration. Export all our problems?
Or it could be an increase in emigration.
People shipping their stuff overseas.
Containers on ships is not always good news.
Or maybe they are transporting all the illegal cannabis grown in Co Clare to supply markets on the continent.
Thanks Enda :)
Which way is the freight going? Mainly in or out? Without that information just Journal spin! Not very accurate reporting
Does it matter, it’s keeping a Irish comapny going who have just announved lots of expanction at start of the year. Jobs are being secured in Irish and British ports.
You should really read up on how a successful economy works import export, balance of trade etc.
oh yeah. a truly great irish company. who flag out their ships under the Cypriot flag to limit the need to comply with best practices. who use an agency to employ non EU crew and and pay way below the minimum wage with minimum leave. a true shining light.
John they have the best ferries & service on the Irish sea. You may be correct about how they behave towards their staff but your argument is damaged by your misinformation.
Micheal. would you mind explaining what you .mean by my misinformation?
Your suggestion about using best practices is vague & designed to be that way to call into question the highest standards used by IF. These ferries are the best on the irish sea with the best service on that sea. Nothing comes close for service or comfort. I know i travel on all these ferries serveral times a week.
micheal…..if you travel with IF on a regular basis you might remember when a truck driver died due to a heart attack. he was attended by a nurse who was travelling on the ship. she requested the use of a defibrillator and was told that there was none on the ship. This was confirmed by an Irish Ferries spokesperson on national radio. they said it wasnt required and yet when these ships were manned by Irish and Uk crew there were defibeillators onboard and crew trained in the use of same. This Micheal is one example of what i mean by best practices. So next time you travel enjoy your comfort but for your sake dont have a heart attack!
We agree that Hauliers and Couriers are the backbone of the country (referring to the UK but we sure it’s the same for Ireland). This has been proved during the #opstack crisis caused by the nonsense at Calais recently. We really want to do more business with Irish Ferries as our freight customers always have good feedback about them. Roll on 2016.
have your say