A brother of murdered journalist Veronica Guerin said yesterday he knew from an early stage there was "a danger" the Paul Ward murder conviction would be overturned.
"The day his conviction was announced we all knew there would be an appeal and we knew there was a danger he would succeed in winning that appeal," Mr Jimmy Guerin said.
However, the ruling of the Court of Criminal Appeal was still disappointing when it came, he said. He felt sure, he said, it was "as disappointing for members of the gardaí as it is for ourselves. They too would have liked to have seen the conviction upheld."
"Naturally we would have liked to have seen more people convicted of Veronica's murder and those responsible for her murder brought to justice," he added.
However, he said that was a matter for the gardaí. "I don't think it would be fair of me to be critical of a Garda operation which I still believe showed a lot of commitment by a lot of men who were very passionate about what they did".
Ms Guerin's mother Mrs Bernie Guerin, in a statement, said she felt angry at the judgment. "I know that my daughter Veronica would share my feeling of anger today".
"Following John Gilligan's conviction I expressed the opinion that justice, as we know it in this country, did not appear to be done. Unfortunately today's verdict confirms this belief," she said.
"While I am disappointed by today's decision, the unceasing grief and heartbreak over the murder of my daughter remains my predominant emotion".
She added that the judgment appeared to cast aspersions on the role of the Lucan Garda team, led by Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey. She felt they were "as fine and decent a body of men as it is possible to meet".
Speaking to The Irish Times, Assistant Commissioner Hickey said the Garda always accepted verdicts of the court "no matter what".
Asked if he was disappointed, he said the Garda had to distance itself from cases and not get emotionally involved. "The point is no matter what happens at this stage, we set out to dismantle a particular gang and we have done that," he said.
Mr Aengus Fanning, editor of the Sunday Independent, the newspaper for which Ms Guerin worked, said the appeal verdict was extremely disappointing and "a considerable surprise".
"At least we can take some consolation from the fact that the State today secured an order against John Gilligan for €17 million. This represents profits from his illegal drug dealing which Veronica so courageously exposed," he said.
Fine Gael's spokesman on justice, Mr Alan Shatter, said the outcome of Ward's appeal illustrated the folly of the prosecution relying principally on supergrass evidence in major criminal cases.
"The outcome of these criminal proceedings also starkly illustrates the importance of ensuring that no matter how horrendous the crime and no matter how great the pressures under which they operate, the Garda Síochána must at all times fully and properly abide by the correct procedures when questioning suspects and must accurately and comprehensively document events and alleged admissions," he said.
He added that careful consideration must now be given to the workings of the witness protection programme.
"It should be put on a statutory basis, circumscribed by provisions which ensure, in so far as is possible, that the benefits available to a potential witness under the programme are not perceived as inducements to lie in court and cannot, of themselves, undermine criminal prosecutions brought or taken," Mr Shatter said.